Whatever Life May Bring
by MioneJeanWeasley
Summary: After Voldemort's downfall, follow Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione as they embark on the journey even more frightening than defying You-Know-Who: life. I'm bad at summaries. H/G, Hr/G. DH compliant. R&R!
1. Mending Hearts and Lions

_**Disclaimer: As much as I wish I wrote and own Harry Potter, I'm not the brilliant J.K. Rowling and therefore none of these characters or places belong to me! I do not own anything except for my own ideas!**_

_Chapter One_

_Mending Hearts and Lions_

_When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."_

_-Author Unknown_

A breeze wisped through the broken window and into the circular room, causing Hermione Granger to open her heavy eyes. She was amazed by the effort it took her to finally get- and keep- her eyelids open. The moment she did, she was extremely confused. Which was quite impressive really. It took a great deal to befuddle the girl.

Hermione was lying in a mahogany, four-poster bed with scarlet hangings. From where she lay she saw a broken window that exposed a brilliant sunset streaked with deep, striking shades of violet, magenta, dark blue, and crimson. A thousand, small, shining stars were barely visible, sprinkled over the beautiful sky. Startled by not knowing where she was, Hermione snatched her wand and sat bolt upright in the bed causing a head rush and a flood of memories to come back to her.

_Sneaking into Hogwarts and seeing her old friends. Entering the damp, disgusting Chamber of Secrets. Being shown her deepest fears and harshest memories before destroying the Horcrux-cup. Kissing Ron… Retrieving the lost diadem of Ravenclaw in the Room of Requirement. Fred, dying in mid- laughter… Curses, hexes, and stunning spells illuminating the corridors and grounds of the castle and turning the entire school into a deadly light show… People falling… Seemingly taking forever to fall… So many sacrificed their lives… Time slowing as Harry was revealed to the survivors of the Battle, dead and limp in Hagrid's arms as Voldemort told them they had failed. Neville destroying the snake. Harry… alive. Harry defying Voldemort for the final time… Harry… succeeding._

_We did it,_ Hermione thought with pride, exhilaration, and a great deal of disbelief. _He's finished. _They're_ finished. It's over!_ Hermione was grinning in disbelief and joy when it hit her.

Their side was not the only one that sustained heavy loses.

As tears began to slowly roll down her face, she took in her surroundings. The circular room held four other beds identical to the one Hermione had just awoken in. In fact, in the bed next to her, a petite girl with scratches and tearstains on her face slept. Her flaming, red hair was knotted and tangled, sprawled completely over her pillow. At the sight of Ginny Weasley, one of Hermione's best friends, more memories pried their way into Hermione's thoughts.

_Ginny and Hermione stumbled through the portrait hole, too exhausted and full of so many conflicting emotions to speak. Ginny led Hermione up to her dormitory, where they both collapsed on beds, drained physically and emotionally from the battle. The redhead turned onto her side, looking at Hermione while tears flowed freely down her face and onto her scarlet sheets._

_The girls did not need, nor wish, to speak as they cried. They could see what the other was feeling in their eyes. They could see the horrific sights their friend had witnessed during the battle. The memories and realization of what had just occurred fueled the many emotions that were now reflecting in the girls' eyes. Pain… Lose… Sadness… Misery… Shock… Happiness… Joy… Hope…_

_In each other's eyes, the girls saw how the time apart had changed them._

_Hermione saw a strength that was never present in Ginny's cinnamon-brown eyes before. There had always been strength and courage, but this was different. It was a hardness caused by painful experiences, disturbing images. Even more leadership and boldness was present in the light brown eyes. Hermione also saw something new. A sense of responsibility and purpose lingered in Ginny's eyes caused by the _need_ to be a leader for others, not the natural inclination to be one. In the months they had been separated, Ginny had become a woman._

_While Hermione read her friend's eyes, exposing Ginny's thoughts, feelings, and changes, Ginny studied the mysteries that Hermione's dark brown eyes held. She saw much more courage and nerve than had ever been there before. There was also a great deal of sadness, loss, and pain that Ginny knew had never taken residence in Hermione's eyes before her adventures with Harry and Ron this year. Hermione's eyes told Ginny that she had loosened up and learned to laugh more, because who knew how much time you had left? But the most significant change Ginny saw was written all over her friend's dark brown eye: love swam deeply throughout Hermione's eyes and lit them up making them shine even through her tears. Ginny realized that her friend had experienced just as much pain and loss over the course of time they had been apart as she had and it had taught them both to live life to the fullest._

_After hours of silently grieving, celebrating, and comforting each other, the girls cried themselves to sleep._

Hermione stared at Ginny, marveling at how much her friend had changed in the months they hadn't seen each other. She stood up and walked towards the broken window, grateful to have a small amount of time to herself and to collect her thoughts.

Hermione felt that the old, mangled window she now stood by was a great representation of the castle's condition. Shattered glass was scattered below the once ornate and beautiful window. A large hole had been blasted through the middle, knocking out the abdomen and head of what used to be a rearing Gryffindor lion. Hermione concluded that the hole was probably caused by a curse gone of course … but then again… it may have hit its intended target. Right where she was standing. Hermione shook her head, as if the action would clear the unpleasant thought from her mind. She ran her fingers over the black, twining wrought iron that formed the outline of the lion, or, rather, what was left of the lion. It was clotted and morphed in certain areas, as if the curse had burned a hole in the window, not only shattering it, but also melting the edges of the hole away.

The window was as battered and torn as the rest of the castle. Hogwarts had suffered immensely from the final battle. Windows were shattered, doors had broken in, staircases were blasted away, pillars had collapsed, and entire walls had disappeared…

_The window looks just like Hogwarts,_ Hermione mused._ It was clearly once beautiful, but now it is dismantled, broken, and depressing, but… fixable. Reparable. It will take a lot of work, faith, and cooperation, but it will be brought back together again. Just like Hogwarts will._

Looking up from the broken window, Hermione's dark eyes now strayed across the grounds of her immense home. The bodies had been cleared away this morning, but she could still see all of the people who had died. It was something so cruel and horrific, Hermione knew it was forever branded onto her mind. Feeling another, harder wave of tears coming on, Hermione fought to get control of herself. She did not want to wake Ginny.

The grief she felt for everyone that had died here throughout the battle felt like a thousand pounds of weight on her back. Fred, whom she would never hear laugh again… Remus and Tonks, gone while their baby boy grew up… Colin Creevey, only a year younger than herself, but his made his age seem like that of a small child… Adults, strangers, fighting for a better life for their children, her generation… Then she saw the faces of the people she had lived with for years and never even gotten to know, the Hogwarts students…

A Ravenclaw girl with straight, blond hair that Hermione would run into time to time in the library, but never introduced herself to, too absorbed in her work to think of it… A boy clearly underage, who should have been with the younger students being evacuated… She recalled confiscating a fanged Frisbee from him as a prefect… A petite girl, whom she thought to be a Hufflepuff, that Hermione had seen in the girls' lavratory… A dark-haired Slytherin boy who fought valiantly for his school…

Tears ghosted down her face as movement on the grounds caught her eye. The giant squid had briefly poked its tentacles through the lake's smooth, glass-like surface, causing a break in the beautiful sunset's reflection in the water. The sky and its reflection in the lake was full of dusty hues of purple, indigo, and deep blue, clearly displaying that the sunset's elaborate show was coming to a close. The skyline became an impressionist painting to Hermione as tears overflowing in her eyes began to obscure her vision. She found that she could not enjoy looking at this breath-taking sight without thinking that Fred, Remus, Tonks, Colin and many others would never be able to view it.

Hermione wiped the tears out of her eyes with the heel of her palm and looked back down at the broken window. She bit her lip while she began to trace the wrought-iron lion again. After a few moments, Hermione stopped crying.

She realized that the broken window was not only symbolic of the state of Hogwarts Castle, but also her heart. Everything she had seen, everyone she had loved who had died, and the strangers she felt eternally grateful to for giving their lives to save others had taken a piece of her heart away. Hermione knew that every survivor of the battle felt the same way. She also knew that just like the window and the castle, their hearts, and her own, could be mended. It would take compassion, unity, hard work, and, most of all, love. Of all the lessons Dumbledore had pressed upon people, Hermione believed that the power of love was the most important of all. Although the threat of Voldemort had been eliminated, their work was not finished. They had much to re-build: a school, a government, an economy, a society, and, most importantly, people's hearts.

_It could take years,_ Hermione thought._ But if we console each other and not let the pain and lose consume us, we'll be able to move on. And if we work together-_

Hermione stepped out of the fan of shattered glass and squared herself to the window, her face determined and set.

"_Reparo."_ The bushy-haired girl murmured fiercely. Hundreds of small glass shards and dust sprung into the air and quickly arranged themselves to fit into the hole in the broken window.

_It shouldn't take that long,_ Hermione thought with satisfaction. With a final look at her best friend and the mended, rearing lion now plastered onto the window pane, Hermione left the room, ready to embark on a whole new adventure.


	2. The Last Laugh

_**Disclaimer: All of the characters, places, items, spells, and everything else that makes Harry Potter magical belongs to J.K. Rowling, whom we should all thank for giving us an amazing story! I can only claim that I own my idea**__**.**_

_Chapter Two_

_The Last Laugh_

 _Many are the starrs I see, but in my eye no starr like thee._

_-English saying used on poesy rings_

Ron Weasley stared at the roaring flames in the Gryffindor Common Room's large, stone fireplace. The room was empty except for him. No one but Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and himself had entered Gryffindor Tower since the end of the Battle. Most people were either leaving for their homes, searching for their family and friends, going to the hospital wing, or beginning to celebrate Voldemort's downfall. Ron, however, was not in the mood for any sort of celebration. His stomach felt nauseous from guilt. Why had he survived when so many others had not? It wasn't fair… Fred should still be here, cheering everyone up. Ron refused to think of Fred, the pain was just too deep, so he shoved all of his thoughts of his brother to the far corners of his mind, ignoring their constant demands of being reflected upon. Thinking of his brother made his heart ache. The fact that Fred was gone made him feel empty and alone; like a piece of himself was missing.

His surroundings corresponded quite well with his emotions. The empty common room was both a blessing and a curse, for he wanted to be alone to have time to grieve privately for those he had lost, but he also wanted someone to come and assure him that everything would be alright. In a way, he knew everything would be more than alright. Voldemort had finally been defeated and everyone could live happy, long lives now. But then again, his life was forever altered, with key components missing.

So many people had left him for forever, without even knowing that it was goodbye.

Ron Weasley would never again see Nymphadora Tonks change her hair color or facial features.

_Hmm, _Ron thought with a small smile._ If she knows I just thought of her as Nymphadora right now, her hair is turning flaming red._

The loving, loyal, helpful, funny and somewhat clumsy Tonks had left. Before he'd gotten to say goodbye. Before anyone had gotten to say goodbye…

Remus Lupin, his teacher and friend had gone… The unstoppable, valiant man who, despite all odds, lived an amazing and somewhat normal life. He'd married the girl of his dreams and had a little baby boy whom was just as unique as his mum. He did not have a lot of time with his family, but Ron knew he treasured the time he did. Remus had to leave his little boy, Teddy, behind. Not able to see him grow up because he and his wife fought to make the world their son had just came into a better place.

As Ron stared at the bright, crackling flames of the fire, the thoughts he had been trying to repress invaded his mind.

Remus and Tonks were not the only one's who left him yesterday.

He would never hear the sound of his older brother's laugh or feel the heat rush to the tips of his ears as Fred took yet another whack at teasing him. Never again would Fred embarrass him about girls, school, and his social life. As much as Ron hated it whenever his big brother would do it, he'd give anything to have his brother humiliate him in front of a huge group of people. It would give them a few more minutes of the years Ron had always expected to have with his vibrant, courageous brother. The years that had deserved and Ron still couldn't comprehend why they had been taken from him. He wished he could have just one more moment with Fred, however small it may be. Ron was not ready to say goodbye yet, and he knew his family wasn't either. George would never be right again. He was half of one entity, and the other half had been murdered hours ago, a smile forever etched onto his face…

Tears streamed down Ron's face. Thinking about a life without Fred, his brother and friend, was just as gut-wrenching as seeing him die, if not worse. Despite having a large, hot fire in front of himself Ron was freezing. He felt as though he'd been dumped into a large tub of ice water and however hard he tried, he couldn't fight his way back to the surface. He was too tired of fighting… too empty… The sobs shook Ron hard now as he continued to gaze into the fire.

Remus, Tonks, and Fred had affected his life tremendously, whether they knew it or not. Each of them had left an imprint of themselves inside his heart. Now that they had died, it felt like they wanted the pieces of themselves they had given to Ron back. It seemed to Ron that whenever he thought their names, they remembered what they had left behind and tried to take it from him. They tugged at Ron's heart, but Ron wouldn't let them have what they wanted back. They were apart of him now, and he was never letting them go.

Ron knew that they, especially his brother, would not want him to wallow in his grief. They'd want him to move on with his life because that's what they had died for. To make their world a better place. But Ron didn't think that he wanted to move on. He felt that if he tried to, it would be disgracing their memory, like forgetting them. Ron would never forget them, they were too important for that.

"You can't think like that, little brother." Ron, disbelieving he had heard Fred's voice, looked to his left. His older brother sat on the chair of the sofa, grinning lop-sided at him. He looked just like Fred, except… he glowed. A dull white light was radiating off his body.

"Fred?" Ron's voice cracked.

"Well of course its me, don't be thick! The only good that ever came from George losing that ear was people finally being able to tell us apart. Honestly, you sound like Mum." Fred joked, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

"You died."

Fred looked exasperated. "Why must we continue to mention the obvious?"

"Are you a ghost?"

"Ickle Ronnie," Fred said, speaking slowly and annunciating as if he were talking to someone extremely slow, "you've spent six years living with over thirty ghosts. Do I look like one to you?"

Fred looked just as he normally did. Well, minus the glowing. All of the ghosts in the castle had a pearly, translucent quality. Fred looked mostly solid, but Ron could tell he wasn't completely flesh or… whatever a ghost was made of. To top it off, the Hogwarts ghosts were utterly frigid. Fred seemed to be giving off heat.

"Well, if you're not a ghost, what are you?"

"I'm a spirit. And I'm late. I'm supposed to be up there right now," Fred nudged his head skyward, "but I couldn't leave without sorting this out."

Fred took a deep breath.

"Ron, this is how I wanted to go. Not that I had a huge urgency to leave, but if I had to pick a way, it'd be this. And you know that." He said, giving his little brother a small smile. "Sure, it would have been great to have had more time, but you don't always get what you want." Fred said, the tiny smile stretching into a large grin. "And you were right, none of us want you to wallow in grief. Especially me." Fred's grin grew larger, if that were possible.

Ron didn't realize until now that he and Fred were not the only ones in the room. Remus and Tonks were also present behind Fred. They too were scintillating, glowing a brilliant white. Remus had his arm around Tonks and they both smiled at him.

"Ron," Lupin said, "never feel guilty that you survived. Apparently, that's the way it's supposed to be. And you have a chance at what we don't: living. Don't waste away your life being miserable and wishing that we're still there."

"Yeah little brother, take a leaf out of George and my book and enjoy your life to its fullest! From my analysis," Fred said glancing up at the girls' dormitories with a smirk, "you have a pretty good life ahead of you. And speaking of George," Fred said, suddenly becoming serious, "don't let him feel guilty either. Remind him that I wouldn't want him to do that. Don't let him, and everyone else stop laughing." Fred said and suddenly chuckling. "Also remind him that with me gone, he'll have to be working double time to keep the mischief in our house at its usual level!"

Fred looked past Ron, as if he was seeing something far away. Suddenly he snapped back to the present and looked at his brother, eyes twinkling with the mischief that only he and his twin seemed to be able to harness.

"Then again, it appears that your son and Ginny's daughter will have that department more than covered!" Fred laughed at his vision and Ron's face, in shock at the mention of children.

"Yeah," said Tonks full of merriment, "watch out for our Teddy, too. I have a feeling he will be taking more after me than Remus in that field!" Her expression softened and became quite tender. "Ron, please talk to him about us." Tonks' eyes sparkled with bitter-sweet tears, "He needs to know who his parents were. And tell him that we loved him more than anything in the _world_ and that we are so _very _sorry we had to leave him, but that we left trying to make his world a better place. Tell him that we're watching over him and that we'll see him again. Please?"

Ron nodded his head and smiled as Remus and Tonks walked over to him. They too were smiling with tears rolling silently down their faces. Remus put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "Give him our love, Ron." And with that the couple disappeared. Ron looked back at his brother and Fred gave him a smile.

"I love you little brother," he said. Ron smiled back at him, crying. "Remember, this isn't really good-bye. The people we love never completely leave us. Never. A part of them will always be in here," he said, putting his hand on Ron's heart. "And trust me, I'll be watching out for you guys. I'm always up for a good laugh!"

With eyes twinkling with mischief, a lopsided grin, and a final, wonderful laugh, Fred Weasley left. Ron walked over to the window and looked up at the powder blue and purple sky twinkling with stars. Ron knew, without a doubt, that Fred, Remus, and Tonks were watching him right now. He stood in silence for quite some time as he watched the sunset come to a close.

Ron was brought out of his reverie when he felt a small hand slide into his own. He looked down and saw a girl with dark brown eyes and a wild, bushy brown mane smile weakly up at him. He returned the smile and she squeezed his hand.

"It'll be all right." Hermione whispered, "It's not truly goodbye."

"I know." Ron said, giving her a small smile. And with that the two looked up at the night sky full of beautiful stars, saying one last goodbye to the brightest of them all.


	3. Veelas and Goblins

_**Disclaimer: Still wishing desperately that I owned Harry Potter, but I still don't. The idea in **_

_**this is mine though.**_

_**Please give me some reviews! On all my chapters! I REALLY want to become a better a writer**_

_**and I can't do that without constructive criticism! Thanks!**_

_Chapter Three_

_Veela's and Goblins_

_"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend."_

_-__Albert Camus_

The sky was dark blue and speckled with thousands of jewel-bright stars when Ginevra Weasley woke. As soon as she had, she wished she hadn't. Her head pounded and her heart ached, making it hard to concentrate.

She remembered what had happened vividly… it was something no one could ever forget. Hexes and curses were flying everywhere as she watched people she loved, people she barely knew, and even people she disliked die. Her stomach clenched and her eyes burned as they tried to conjure up the tears that she had run out of through the course of her slumber.

Ginny lost her brother and friend, Fred. He was probably the funniest person she knew and _definitely_ the most mischievous. Ginny still couldn't understand how someone so good, so pure of heart, could be gone. He and George had always supplied the house with laughter, light, and… a bit of pandemonium. Without Fred with George, Ginny wasn't sure if life at the Burrow would ever be the same…

Tonks, who had taught her so much, was also gone. She was much more than a teacher, too, but she was her fun, spontaneous, and somewhat klutzy friend. Tonks was as vibrant as her bubble-gum pink hair and Ginny's heart ached knowing that it would be a very long time before she saw her friend again.

The man who had given her confidence and knowledge in protecting herself from the Dark Arts had also died. Remus Lupin, one of her first teachers, had left Ginny hours ago with his wife, the two of them forced to leave their son before they even got to know him. Ginny would miss them so much and she promised herself that she would always be there for Teddy when his parents never would be able to.

Ginny was through with crying and being sad for two reasons. The first being that she knew that everyone who had died, had died for the people they loved to live long, joyous lives without pain and sadness. By allowing herself to slip into misery, she wasn't honoring their memories and she knew all of them would want her to move on. Her second reason was Harry. He wouldn't want to see her weep and she shouldn't remind him of any of the sadness that had occurred last night. He'd had enough sadness and horror for a lifetime- more than a lifetime- so she would be there to comfort him. Ginny would _not_ have him comforting her.

The red-head got up and looked over at Hermione's bed, seeing that it was empty and assumed that her friend had gone to go help the people who remained in the castle. Ginny tied back her long, flaming hair and wiped the tearstains off her face. She left her dormitory and walked to the door of Harry's. Careful not to wake him, she opened the door.

A tall, wiry young man with jet-black hair and a peculiar, lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead was lying on top of his mahogany, four-poster bed, asleep.

_It looks like he just collapsed on the bed he was so exhausted, _Ginny thought, noting that Harry still had his shoes and glasses on. Closing the door, she walked over to his four-poster and sat down next to him.Ginny removed his glasses and put them on the bedside table that had been empty for months.

"Hey," Harry said quietly, his eyelids opening to reveal a striking shade of green.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"No, you didn't. I've been awake for awhile, I just don't want to go down and see everyone, as bad as that sounds."

"Doesn't sound bad at all," Ginny said as something occurred to her, "Oh. If you want to be alone I'll lea-"

"What? No!" said Harry sitting up. "You're the only person I do want to see right now." Harry confessed as Ginny sat back down.

"So you're okay that I'm here?"

"More than okay." Harry said, taking Ginny's hand. The red-haired girl smiled at him, wondering if Harry was ready to discuss why he had left on his adventures this year, but deciding that she'd rather not start their conversation on a such dark note. Suddenly, she took her hand out of his, trying to joke about something that truly worried her.

"Did you meet any veelas while you were gone?" Ginny looked at Harry with a weak smile, trying to prepare herself for the worst.

"Nope," Harry said, a small smile playing at his mouth, "no veelas. I did meet a goblin but I really don't think you should be too worried about that." The two laughed as Ginny took Harry's hand again. They sat in comfortable silence for quite a long time, both of them reflecting on what had happened. Ginny put her hand on Harry's arm, her touch bringing him back to her and away from his nightmares.

"Two things. One, you can't live in this room forever, so you're going to have to come down to everyone at some point. Two," Ginny paused, looking into Harry's green eyes, "don't dwell on everyone who died. They died for us, for all of us, to live our lives the way _we_ want to. For us to be happy. Moping around for them seems to be a fairly bad way to honor their memory." Harry's eyes brimmed with tears at the thought of moving on. He had lost so many people he loved... He needed to know that everything would be fine now…

Taking a deep breath, Ginny rose and went to the old, mahogany nightstand. She took the glasses sitting on top and slid them carefully onto their owner's face. Harry looked up at her as she held out her hand and, taking it, Harry remembered those months of bliss a little over a year ago with Ginny when he felt normal, just like everyone else in the castle. He sighed, taking in her flowery scent that he'd been in withdraw from for months and looked down at the small, freckled young girl he loved. Ginny returned his gaze, looking into the bright-green eyes that she had only seen in dreams and memories lately. Slowly, timidly, Ginny kissed Harry and was elated when he returned the kiss with enthusiasm. When they broke apart, Ginny eyed Harry with mock suspicion.

"So," Ginny said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, " you and that goblin are over, right?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry, laughing with the girl he had missed for months.

A grinning Ginny tugged on the emerald eyed boy's hand and led him out of his dormitory door. As they crossed the threshold, the uneasy feeling returned to Harry's stomach. He _really_ did not want to go down to everyone just yet. They'd great him like a savior, and he already had enough of that before Luna helped escape last night.

_Or, I guess this morning,_ Harry thought with confusion.

As Harry and Ginny made their way down the staircase, they noticed two people over by the far window. Ron stood with his long arm around Hermione and her head leaning against his chest. They gazed at the night sky, looking peaceful and content until-

_Creak._

The floorboard under Harry's foot croaked like a frog with laryngitis causing Ron and Hermione to hurriedly break apart. Looking at Harry and Ginny, Hermione's face was a light shade of pink, much subtler than the scarlet shade of Ron's ears.

"We were-" Hermione began, but was soon interrupted.

"Oh come off it! Your… thing you two have isn't exactly a secret to me anymore!" Harry began, amused. "I may not be the best at being able to tell when two people fancy each other, but I would have to be really thick not to know after what I saw yesterday in the Room of Requirement." Harry laughed at his best friends' reactions. Hermione's light pink was deepening to a dark red that could rival any Weasley's blush. Ron's ears had turned, if possible, an even brighter shade of red then before while his face was stark white. The contrast of the two colors reminded Harry vividly of Luna's radish earrings.

Ginny lifted her eyebrows and looked at Hermione expectantly, who, mortified, mouthed 'later' to her best friend.

"So," Hermione said, turning towards Harry, "are you ready?" Harry opened his mouth to speak but did not say a word. Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and walked over to Harry, placing her free hand in his. She nodded her head to him as Ron gave him a small, encouraging smile while Ginny squeezed his hand.

"Yeah," Harry said, knowing that whatever came next in life, he'd never be alone. "I'm ready."


	4. Homecoming

_**Disclaimer: Didn't own Harry Potter last chapter… Don't own it this one.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_

_Chapter Four_

_Homecoming_

_The ideal of happiness has always taken material form in the house, whether cottage or castle; it stands for permanence and separation from the world._

_-__Simone de Beauvoir_

The four friends clambered through portrait hole and made their way through the corridors of Hogwarts. Their every breath and movement echoed around the muted, barren castle. Each sound they made felt inappropriate and rude, as if they were breaking a sworn secret of silence with the noise.

During the Battle, Harry never realized how much damage was done to the castle. There had been too much adrenaline coursing through his veins and thoughts on his mind. Now, he truly took in his surroundings.

Down every corridor, rubble scattered the floor, occasionally joined by glass and blood. Windows were blasted open and some walls had gaping holes in them. Pieces of the once pristine suits of arm could be found along with broken down doors and painting frames in disarray on the ground. To Harry, it was a mockery of Hogwarts. As if the memories he held of Hogwarts being home, of strolling across the grounds, laughing with Ron and Hermione, playing Quidditch, sleeping in his cozy four-poster, and dining in the Great Hall were a ghost of what was left of Hogwarts. This place didn't feel like his home. It felt like a funeral home. The wreckage. The silence. The death. The despair. It was nothing like the Hogwarts Harry knew and loved. It was just a barren, depressing, stone building. He couldn't take it anymore, and it seemed that Hermione couldn't either.

"That's it!" she said, in a huge, seventy-foot long corridor, angry and exasperated. "I can't stand this!" And with that the young lady walked a few strides behind her friends, who halted and looked behind them, their faces surprised at the sudden break of the dead silence. Hermione raised her wand above her head and whipped it around in a circle while saying in a clear, loud voice that seemed to carry miles in the silence:

"_Reparo!"_

The rubble and wreckage strewn across the floor sprang up and zoomed across the corridor, each piece returning to its original domain. Glass tinkled as it was lifted off the ground in waves and danced its way over to the broken windows. It swirled around Hermione, enveloping her in a sparkling diamond sea that whipped her hair. Portraits were quickly returned to their homes on the walls consecutively, their loud slams creating a hard, rapid rhythm. Pieces of doors were reunited with their counter parts so fast that seconds later, whole wooden doors were being reattached to their hinges, blocking off classrooms that had been exposed moments before. Ten polished suits of armor were rebuilt in the blink of an eye just as the room was finished. The shining suits bowed to Hermione and hopped back onto their adjacent pedestals. The torches on the wall sconces suddenly became alight with flames, filling the long hall with a warm, glowing light that none of them, including Ginny, had seen in a year.

"Well. That should be everything…" Hermione said, more to herself than to anyone else as she looked around the newly restored, extensive corridor. "Oh." she said spotting the blood on the walls. In a swift motion, Hermione flick her wand and said in a fierce whisper, _"Scourgify."_ After looking down the long hall for a few moments, Hermione seemed to remember she was not alone. Turning toward her friends she asked doubtfully, "Well, what do you think?"

The three teens stared at their friend with wide eyes, amazed. Ron was the first to finally find his voice.

"You're brilliant. Completely frightening… but still bloody brilliant." He said, bewildered. Ron's praise seemed to really make Hermione realize where she was and what she had just done. Down in front of her, she held her wand with both hands, fingers interlaced as she slowly turned her head to looked around as if she were in a haze, seeing for the first time how she had transformed the extended corridor. Her posture, expression, and blush made her look like the picture of innocence and Ginny began to laugh, wondering what The Picture of Innocence and her brother had done yesterday that made their feeling for each other so obvious_._ Harry didn't need to think everything Ginny was to explode with laughter. Hermione's red, shocked face did it all.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny continued their walk to the Great Hall, taking as many detours as possible to fix up the castle. As they reached the crest of the marble staircase, Harry's tension at the idea of seeing everyone returned… People would be hugging him, thanking him, yanking him... It would be just as chaotic as this morning...

As Harry and his friends made their way down the stairs, he realized that something was… off. It was completely silent other than the combined sound of their footsteps. He glanced toward Ginny in surprise and confusion and her face seemed to mirror his own. Harry bit his lower lip and Ginny squeezed his hand while giving him an encouraging smile. A few more steps and everyone in the Great Hall would see them…

Harry held his breath as the Great Hall came into view. He, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stopped, quite shocked. The huge room was completely deserted other than the knot of roughly ten people, most with flaming red hair, sitting at the long Gryffindor table. The Weasley's, Fleur, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout and Luna only seemed to realize Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron's arrival once the four teenagers sat down.

"Hello," Luna said in her dreamy voice to the newcomers after the adults exchanged quick greetings with them and returned to their conversation.

"Hey Luna," Harry said.

"Are you ready to be around everyone now?" she asked.

"Yeah," Harry said thoughtfully after a few moments, smiling at his friend, "Think I'll be okay now."

"Good," Luna said, beaming. She breathed in a heavy sigh and began to stare dreamily off into space.

"Luna?" Hermione asked, breaking their strange friend out of her reverie. "Do you know what everyone is talking about?"

"People who died," she said bluntly, causing her friends' stomachs to clench and hearts to ache, "also what will happen to the Ministry and how long it will take to fix the school."

Ron made an indistinct grunt, staring at the polished, wooden table and Harry pretended to not see his friend's tears. Harry thought while they had been fixing the corridors that they had done a lot… he had forgotten how vast the school was…

"So what happened after us four went up to Gryffindor Tower?" Ginny asked, redirecting Harry's wandering mind back to Luna.

"Well most people went home to tell their families and friends. Some were taken to the hospital wing. A lot went to celebrate at parties... I hope they know that that'll attract Nargles," Luna said, shaking her head. Harry looked to Hermione, expecting her to barely be containing herself from telling Luna that no such creatures existed, but was surprised to see his best friend smiling sweetly and nodding at their eccentric friend. Ron finally looked up from the table, amused and grinning at Luna.

The five friends talked for quite a long time, occasionally small laughs could be heard. Eventually their conversation and that of the adults blended into one large one. Harry didn't notice how long the had been talking until a ray of sunlight streamed through the large window and onto the table. Harry looked up at the enchanted ceiling where a steady sunrise was beginning, streaked with delicate pinks and blues that began to obscure the diamond-like stars twinkling above.

"I should probably get back to my dad." Luna said, rising. "I'm not sure if he knows what happened and I think he'd like to see me. It's been months since the Death Eaters kidnapped me." She stated matter-of-factly, surprising everyone with her willingness to talk of things most people would find extremely private. "May I use the Floo Network to get back Professor?" Luna asked Professor McGonagall.

"Of course dear," McGonagall said, also standing from the bench. "I'll take you to my office." Luna exchanged goodbyes with the adults and thanked Bill and Fleur again for their hospitality.

"Zat was nothing," Fleur responded, "You are welcome any time." Luna then turned to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, giving each of them a large huge.

"Well," Luna said to them, "I suppose I won't see you until term starts-"

"Oh come off it!" Ron said, smiling. "We live in the same village. Of course we'll see you this summer! Unless," Ron hesitated, looking very awkward, "you, uh, don't want to."

"Oh I do, that sounds quite lovely!" Luna said, smiling as her protruding eyes widened. "I've never been invited to see people over the summer holidays. Thank you, Ronald." And with one last dreamy look at her friends, Luna left with Professor McGonagall.

"Well," said Mr. Weasley, standing and yawning, "we should probably get back home." All of the redheads in the room, with the exception of Bill, rose from the two long benches, stretched and said their goodbyes to the Professors. Harry and Hermione sat back down as the Weasley's began to walk to the door of the Great Hall. They watched the family sadly, wishing they were joining them. Mrs. Weasley suddenly spun around.

"And what are you two doing sitting down? When Arthur said 'we' that included you. Up!" Harry and Hermione grinned at each other and hurriedly said goodbye to Bill, Fleur, Flitwick, and Sprout.

"Thank you for letting us stay with you, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said as Mrs. Weasley gave her and Harry each a large hug.

"Of course dear, it's our pleasure! I really think that the philosophy 'The more the merrier' will apply right now. That's the way Fred would want it," she said, tears beginning to glisten in her eyes. Suddenly she smiled. "Besides, you two are practically family anyway!" she said, following the rest of her family out onto the grounds. Harry and Hermione, the latter fiercely blushing, trailed behind. Hermione quickly looked up at Harry.

"Do you think they know about… you know?" she asked apprehensively. Harry couldn't help but laugh. He'd never seen Hermione as incoherent as today.

"I think you're in the clear. Besides, it's not going to be bad if they find out, Hermione. You are like family to them." Harry reassured Hermione, still grinning. "Plus," Harry murmured to himself, "It's not like it'll be much of a surprise."

"What did you say?" Hermione asked, eyeing her friend suspiciously.

"Nothing." Harry said it quickly and clearly, trying not to laugh.

As the Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione made it outside the winged-boar gates, Ginny took her father's arm and all of them Apparated, causing a loud _crack!_

After an extremely uncomfortable moment of time, in which Harry felt like his body was being turned inside out and twisted into a knot at the same time, he opened his eyes to a beautiful sight. The sun was just rising over the Burrow, illuminating the large house that looked like it could topple over and the beautiful, overgrown garden teeming with gnomes. For the first time in almost a year, Harry felt like he was home.

"Yes!" Ron shouted from somewhere behind him, completely overjoyed. "I didn't splinch myself!"

_Yeah,_ Harry thought wistfully, _I've finally come home._

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	5. Secrets, Secrets

_**Disclaimer: Still wishing I owned Harry Potter, but, sadly, still don't.**_

_**Thank you so much to DriftWood1965 and raybanlover for your reviews, I really appreciated it! They were my first ever!**_

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_Chapter Five_

_Secrets, Secrets, Are No Fun,_

_Unless You Share With Everyone_

_There are no secrets better kept than the secrets that everybody guesses._

_-__George Bernard Shaw_

As the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione walked into the Burrow's kitchen, Harry was instantly filled with happiness. The familiar room with its cozy furniture and loving atmosphere was the first thing that made Harry truly believe that now was a time of peace. The sight of the cramped kitchen and the idea of continuing his life without being a marked man sent a thrill of joy through Harry, alighting his face in a smile.

As soon as both of her feet were over the threshold Mrs. Weasley immediately began to busy herself with breakfast. Soon, the kitchen was blasting with a sweet aroma of waffles, sausage, eggs, bacon, cinnamon toast, and pumpkin juice. Harry, Ron, and Hermione ate even more vigorously than everyone else. Other than the sandwiches Kreacher had brought them after the battle, this was the first legitimate meal they had had since their stay at Shell Cottage. Harry savored every flavor that came into contact with his long deprived taste buds and gulped his pumpkin juice heartily.

Throughout breakfast, the usual loud, friendly noise level at the Weasley table was absent, replaced by small and quiet conversation. Everyone other than George contributed to the discussions of re-building Hogwarts, the Ministry, and the wizarding world. He was completely silent, not even asking to pass the butter. Immediately after he finished eating, George mumbled his thanks, causing the talk to cease. He then left the table and went up the stairs. As they heard his door close quietly up-stairs, Ron started to stand up.

"No." Ginny said pulling him back down. "He's needs some time alone." For a moment, Ron looked above him to what used to be Fred and Georges' room, torn between helping his brother and listening to his sister. Eventually, he nodded and sat back down.

"Shall we help you clean up Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked a little while later as she, Ginny, Harry, and Ron stood up from the table.

"That's very kind of you dear, but," she said tears in her eyes, "I think I'd rather just be alone for awhile." After once again thanking Mrs. Weasley for breakfast the four teenagers went out the back door.

Although the Weasleys had been living at their Aunt Muriel's, the Burrow's garden looked the same as ever, the only difference being that there were a lot more gnomes than Mrs. Weasley usually tolerated. It was overgrown with a multitude of beautiful blooming foxgloves, daffodils, snapdragons, violets, roses, and bushels of wildflowers, all sparkling with dew that shone like thousands of diamonds.

Harry looked over at all his friends. Ginny looked around the familiar yard, smiling as she took a deep breath. She was overjoyed to be home, back at the Burrow, and not at the sinister castle Hogwarts had become or Aunt Muriel's house (which, quite frankly, smelled heavily of wet dog and month-old carrot cake). Hermione and Ron also grinned as they saw the Burrow's picturesque garden. Wanting to see Ron's reaction to finally being home, Hermione stole a glance at him. Ron, coincidentally, looked her way right at that moment, causing them both to turn beet red. Neither Harry nor Ginny missed this exchange.

"You know," Harry said, "I think I fancy a shower."

"Yes." Ginny said, catching on. "I think I need to do that too… don't want to… catch athletes foot." She stated, furrowing her brow.

"Yeah." Harry said slowly. As Harry and Ginny walked back to the door, Hermione heard Harry.

"Athlete's foot?"

"Yes," Ginny snapped, "it was all I could think of." She added justifiably as the door to the Burrow shut, leaving Hermione and Ron alone. Other than the buzzing of bees and the trickle of water from the small waterfall in the frog pond, the air was filled with a long, uncomfortable silence.

"So…" Ron began after what seemed like ages. "You want to sit down?" He said, pointing to a rock on the edge of the frog pond.

"Uh, yeah." Hermione said as she sat down, looking at the morning glories that were growing sprawled across the rock. The white, violet, and bright blue flowers were just beginning to wake up, opening their vibrant petals to the sky.

Hermione gazed at the small frogs sitting placidly on lily pads as she consulted her predicament. She didn't have the slightest idea of what to say to Ron. It would be _very _difficult to make small talk after what had happened in the Room of Requirement, but on the other hand she didn't want to even have to consider the notion of jumping into the deep stuff right away. Honestly, when she had gone to comfort Ron in the Common Room about Fred and held his hand, it hadn't been awkward at all, but once Harry had brought up the kiss, Hermione couldn't even look at Ron without causing a blush that could rival even Ron's own one. Her actions in the Room of Requirement had been so abrupt and brash it was mortifying to even think about it, especially while Ron was sitting no more than five centimeters from her.

Blushing, she broke away from her thoughts and glanced up at Ron. It appeared that he had been watching Hermione during the entire time she had been worrying, seemingly lost in some sort of internal struggle. For the second time this morning Ron was torn, and as Hermione looked up at him, he made his decision.

Taking her face in his hands, Ron kissed Hermione. This was different than before. It was timid, softer, and sweeter. It wasn't rushed, it was as if they had all the time in the world and they were the only people in it. After they broke apart, Hermione smiled as Ron tucked one curl of brown hair behind her ear.

"So," Hermione began slowly, "you do… like me. In that way I mean…"

" 'Course." Ron said, slightly amused and slightly red. "I _did_ just kiss you."

"Oh, that's right." Hermione said, causing them both to chuckle shyly.

"You know," Ron asked, breaking the now comfortable silence, "I am a bit curious… how long have you… you know?"

"Well," Hermione said, chuckling, "There'd always been something... I had always felt different about you than Harry, but I'd say that it was about third year when I actually understood what that was… Which _was _rather confusing on account of us being complete prats to each other."

"Yeah we do that a lot, don't we?" Ron said and they both started to laugh again.

"Your turn. How long for you?" Hermione asked, looking at Ron as if she was trying to read his thoughts.

"Er… I think third year, too. But then again, I really didn't like that you had a crush on Lockhart second year," he stated, laughing at Hermione's mortified face, "Either way I didn't really realize completely 'til fourth year," Ron stated slowly, his hands balling up into fists, "until the Yule Ball. When you went with Vicky. I mean," he backtracked quickly, "Viktor."

"Huh." Hermione stated vaguely, staring off into space. Ron looked at her quizzically.

"What?" he asked hesitantly. Hermione snapped back to reality and looked at Ron, his blue eyes puzzled.

"Well," Hermione said, her expression hazy as she looked at Ron, "I was just wondering what it would have been like if you'd asked me first. To the ball, I mean." She added to cure Ron's confusion.

"Trust me," Ron said bitterly, "thought that over quite a few times that night… and at the wedding…"

After a long berth of silence, Hermione voiced another question.

"You don't think Harry will mind, do you?"

"Well, if this had happened at school, it would've been a bit awkward, but after everything now…" Ron said thoughtfully, "I reckon it won't make much of a difference. Besides," he continued squinting his eyes towards the Burrow like he could see his best friend inside it, "my sister for his sister seems to be a very good trade leaning in my favor." He and Hermione laughed, enjoying the moment together. Ron then took her hand and led her back to the door of the Burrow. As he reached for the door handle, he was interrupted.

"Ron wait!" Hermione said nervously. Hermione bit her lip, uneasy, as Ron looked down at her, completely confused. "Is now the time? I think it would be a bit…" Hermione struggled to find the right word as she looked at the rusty old cauldron next to the front door. "Inappropriate for us to let everyone know that we're together right now. I mean Fred…" she trailed off, a tear running down her face.

"Would want us to be happy." Ron finished as he wiped her tear away. Hermione gave him a small smile as she nodded her head, and before she knew it, they were kissing again. And before she knew it, the door opened.

Hermione and Ron hurriedly broke apart, both flushing a deep scarlet as they stared, shocked at Mrs. Weasley. She, too, seemed to be very taken aback, although very quickly a smile lit up her face.

"Well I should say it's about time! You two were so obvious even your father knew," she said, turning toward Ron, "and that is truly saying something. Took the man years to finally notice I liked him for more than his help in Transfiguration!"

"Mum!" Ron exclaimed, completely aghast as his ears became even more red. Hermione grinned, stifling a laugh with her hand.

"Oh Ron, how do you think you came about?" Mrs. Weasley asked entertained. This, in turn, just made Ron's flush deepen to the exact shade of a tomato and caused Hermione's grin to turn into a smirk. "Alright, enough of this or all of the blood in Ron's body will go to his face. Time for you two to get showers. Hm?"

And with that Ron and Hermione made their way up the twisting staircase of the Burrow.

"Nothing private in this house." Ron muttered irritably, seemingly to no one in particular. As she heard this, Hermione smiled to herself, glad to be back at the cozy, warm Burrow, with her big, loud extended family, where nothing could ever remain a secret.

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	6. A Final Farewell

_**Disclaimer: Anything and everything Harry Potter is sadly not mine, but Jo Rowling's. Although, I own my own ideas, so take them and I'll put a Blast-Ended Skrewt in your room.**_

_**Thank you so much to those who are reviewing but I REALLY want to become a better writer so**____**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!**_

_Chapter Six_

_A Final Farewell_

_In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons._

_-Herodotus_

In Ron's bright orange room filled with Chudley Cannons décor, Harry took a deep breath in his black dress robes as he once again tried unsuccessfully to put on his tie. Infuriated that he still couldn't put it on correctly, he threw it on top of Ron's dresser.

"Let me help." Ginny said softly. Harry, thinking he had been alone, wondered how long she had been there, not having heard her enter the room. "There." She said as she slid the knot of the tie up to the collar of his shirt.

Ginny's thick, red hair was up in a knot and she, too, was wearing black dress robes. Both were prepared for the funeral today, the last one they would attend. The first had been Colin Creevy's, two days after their return to the Burrow. Then, a day later, they had gone to the funerals' of various people who had died in the battle, some of which Harry knew, some he did not. Then, yesterday, the Weasley's, Harry, Ron, and Hermione attended the funeral of Remus John Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks Lupin. That had been, by far, the most painful event that had happened to Harry since the battle. And not because he had to say goodbye to Remus and Tonks, which was agonizing, but because that was the day he met Teddy Lupin.

_After the service, Harry had wandered a bit from the Weasley's and Hermione because he craved some time to be alone to think of Remus and Tonks. As he meandered through the graveyard, Harry heard someone call his name. Glancing over his should, Harry saw Andromeda Tonks holding a small bundle of blankets._

_"Oh," Harry said, startled from being brought back down from his thoughts, "Hullo." As Harry walked closer to the woman, he saw the tearstains on her face. It never ceased to amaze him how much Andromeda's face looked so much like her mad sister Bellatrix's, and yet at the same time it was so extrodinarly different. In Dromeda's face, there was a warmth that her sister never would have been capable of holding. Harry looked down at the bundle of blankets Tonk's mother was holding, which began to move slightly as she lifted away a fold of blue, cotton blanket, exposing a little baby, sound asleep._

_"I thought you may want to meet your godson."_

_Realization came to Harry as soon as Dromeda had spoken. Teddy Lupin was the baby inside the bundle. Harry walked right up next to the tiny baby, wanting to get a closer look at him. Currently, he was asleep, so he had no idea what color eyes he had, but his hair was jet black. After wondering how Teddy had inherited the jet-black hair, he thought that the baby probably looked pretty close to how he, Harry, had as a baby. Well, at least before he had the scar… before his parents had died. A sick feeling of irony hit Harry as he realized that he and Teddy were more similar than in their appearance. Both of their parents were dead before they even knew them…_

At least he won't grow-up like me, _Harry thought,_ Dromeda will give him a connection to the Wizarding World. He'll have someone there…

_Harry wished Sirius had been there instead of the Dursleys. How much better it would have been if he'd had someone there… A father-figure… Harry would have had a much happier childhood if his godfather had been in the picture…_

_"Do you think I could hold him?" Harry asked._

_"Of course dear." Dromeda said, slowly shifting the baby into the crook of Harry's arm. "Mind his head now…"_

_"Sorry," Harry said, focusing on adjusting his hold on the child, "I've never held a baby before."_

_"Never?" Dromeda asked, surprise all over her face. Harry shook his head as he looked down at the little baby in his arms. Teddy's tiny nose wriggled in his sleep as if he were trying to get rid of an annoying itch. The cute little motion made Harry grin. Teddy sighed and Harry stiffened, thinking that he'd woken the child in his arms, but the baby just turned towards him and nestled in closer to his chest. As Teddy grew still once again, Harry had yet another realization._

_Sirius had been out of the picture because he was locked up in Azkaban. Harry, on the other hand, was not imprisoned and free to be apart of this child's life… To fill the role of a father, something that Harry himself needed and craved as a child and even now. Looking down at the small baby in his arms, Harry made a promise to himself to always be there for Teddy, give him whatever he needed, and to be whatever he needed, whether it was a father, brother, friend, or playmate. Harry vowed that even though Teddy's parents had died, he would not grow-up alone._

Harry snapped back to the present as Ginny looked up at him. She had tears in her eyes but her face was set, clearly trying to not let Harry see how scared she was to go to the funeral.

"Come on," he said, kissing her forehead, "Let's get going." Ginny took his hand as he led her into the yard of the Burrow. Once all of the home's occupants were in the backyard, they Apparated just outside of the little cemetery where Fred's funeral would occur. Ginny turned to Harry with fear in her eyes and he gave her a small, encouraging smile. Holding hands, they followed the rest of their party into the cemetery looking around. Around the area's edges, beautiful cherry blossom tree's were in bloom, each surrounded by a ring of brilliant blue Forget-Me-Nots. In the center of the yard roughly thirty people sat in neat columns, all looking forward at a large, stone tomb inside which Fred Weasley lay.

George Weasley sat in the front row of the flock of people saying their goodbyes to his best friend and brother, Fred. He sat staring at his feet, seemingly in a stupor to the people around him. The same state he'd been in for the past week, the state his family and Harry had just grown accustomed to seeing him in. Hermione had just returned from retrieving her parents in Australia two days ago, just in time for Tonks and Remus' funeral. To witness George as he had become was so surprising and saddening to her, she started to tear up every time she saw him. George did not see this. George did not see a lot of things lately. The only things he saw were memories of Fred and himself at Hogwarts, wrecking havoc. Of opening their joke shop and fulfilling their dream. Of Fred, lying on the ground next to dead bodies, a smile forever plastered onto his face…

"Fred…"

George's head snapped up at the sound of his twin's name. Since the battle, he'd only heard it in his mind, for no one at the Burrow dared to say his brother's name around George for fear he'd have a breakdown. The voice that had said his brother's name wasn't familiar; it was neither family, friend, or foe. It came from the tufty little wizard who'd spoken Dumbledore's funeral and married Bill and Fleur. Why was he saying Fred's name and why was he in front of the casket? Saying his goodbyes?

And then realization hit George as hard and fast as a Bludger. The tiny wizard was saying Fred's eulogy.

The pain of that hurt beyond belief. So bad, that George felt like he'd been whomped in the stomache, all of the air struck out of him. And it wasn't because it meant Fred was definitely dead. He was aware of that all too well. He knew he'd never see his brother smile again or hear his laugh again. Nor would they ever invent a new product together and test it out on an unsuspecting ickle Ronnie-kins. No. They would not. Fred would not. He was dead, and George knew that. What caused him so much pain was that he'd spent virtually 99.9 percent of his life with Fred, the point one being the five minutes between their births. Because of that, he knew that the only amount of personal interaction Fred had had with the little wizard speaking in front of the sea of black-clad mourners around George was when he and his twin had snuck off with Fleur's veela cousins at the wedding. The tufty wizard had seen them and flushed a deep red, completely embarrassed.

So this little man who was speaking about how great Fred was, how funny he was, how good he was… knew _nothing_ about him other than the fact that he had a thing for French girls. He was just spitting out fluffy crap about Fred that he'd been told to say. He didn't know Fred at all. He didn't know that Fred had kept his word to Ginny in third year, tried to knick a Hogwarts toilet seat for her, and was caught by McGonagell. He didn't know that Fred had wished Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had found him and George and taken them to the Department of Mysteries so they could help protect their friends. He didn't know that out of his many large brothers, the sibling Fred had feared the wrath of the most was petite, little Ginny. And he would never know.

Suddenly people had begun to stand, the movement catching George's attention. He followed his family, thinking they would be leaving, but they were engulfed in a crowd of mourners, all saying their pitiful lines to the Weasley family.

"We're so sorry for your loss…" Loss? Loss didn't even begin to describe what Fred dying was like.

"We'll all miss him so much now that he has passed on." Passed on? _Passed on?_ The term didn't do any justice to what had happened to Fred and George hated it. It didn't explain what had happened. He'd died.

"What a great boy. I'll miss him a lot." George lost it at that point. The man speaking was one of Dad's colleges at the Ministry that Fred and George had spoken to for a maximum of five minutes at the Quidditch World Cup. He didn't know Fred at all, certainly not enough to miss him. So George turned and walked away, meandering through the crowd and sitting down under the shade of a cherry blossom tree surrounded by bright blue flowers, going back into his coma-like state.

He had no idea how long he'd been sitting there before-

"Hey." Angelina Johnson stood above him, her dark hair in curls framing her beautiful face, her eyes red and puffy. "Can I sit?" She asked, gesturing to the clear patch of ground next to him.

George didn't care, but he nodded his head anyway, and returned to his own little world inside his head where Fred lived on, the picture of him clear as day. A soft voice broke him out of it again.

"Gin told me you've been like this since Fred died." George looked at Angelina, surprised someone had actually used the correct term and that she'd been so blunt. She returned his stare and looked at George sorrowfully with tears running down her face.

"Like what?" George's voice sounded strange to him. It cracked out of neglect. He hadn't said a word since the day after the battle.

"Like what?" Angelina asked in disbelief. "George…." She said, struggling for the right words. "You're a mess." She continued, ignoring George's furrowed brow. "Your hair's greasy, you smell, it looks like you haven't eaten in days… You look at things without really seeing them and you don't even regard people's presence… like they're not even there… I tried talking to you for five minutes after I sat down and the only thing that brought you back to Earth was my mentioning of Fred's death…" For the first time since the battle George experienced a feeling other than anger, sadness, or guilt: surprise. He hadn't had the slightest inkling Angelina had been trying to talk to him, let alone for five minutes. "You're a mess George… You're a mess…" Angelina said, a mixture of pity, sadness, and regret on her face.

"What do you expect me to do, eh?" George asked, the familiar feeling of anger settling in his stomach. "My brother- _my best friend_- died and you expect me to move past that and be full of sunshine and daises- "

"Of course not," Angelina interrupted, affronted, "but I expect you to at least try to pull yourself together! For Fred." With that, George's angry air melted away, shifting quickly into embarrassment. The suggestion that he was betraying his brother's, best friend's, and partner-in-crime's wishes made his stomach drop ten feet lower than its usual height. George fiddled with the grass around the blue flowers, refusing to make eye contact with Angelina, too humiliated for words. The silence and time stretched on and on, seemingly endless to George. Suddenly he felt Angelina get up.

"Where are you going?" George asked, weary.

"Home." She called over her shoulder to the red-head as she continued her march out of the cemetery, which George finally noticed was empty.

"Please," he said quietly, "don't leave me." Angelina stopped and turned to him, looking at him quite tenderly.

"You can't stay here, George." She said softly, tears welling up in her eyes as she came back over to her friend. "It's time to leave." George took a deep breath and rose from his seat beside the Forget-Me-Not flowers, his muscles aching. He bit his lip, not quite sure what he should do next. "You're welcome to come with me, if you like." Angelina said, offering him her hand.

"Yeah," he said, putting his large hand in hers, "I think I'd like that." Together they exited the garden, ready to heal, but not entirely sure of what life would bring next.

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	7. Quidditch, Birds, and Bees

_**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. I'm not J.K. Rowling. Duh.**_

_**Sorry it has been forever since I updated; I was having huge trouble finding the time to write, let alone an idea to write of! Thank you so, so, so much to raybanlover, you are fantastic and I look forward to your reviews every chapter, they keep me going! Also thanks to my unofficial beta, isolemnlyswearthatiamup2nogood, you are great! If anyone wants to see me write something, add a suggestion! To those who review, I love you forever!**_

_Chapter Seven_

_Quidditch, Birds, and Bees_

_After God created the world, He made man and woman. Then, to keep the whole thing from collapsing, He invented humor. _

_-Bill Kelly, "Mordillo"_

Three weeks had passed since Fred's funeral and George's depression had faded with the cool, late spring weather. It was the middle of June and it felt like the Burrow was enveloped in a thick, muggy blanket of heat. Mr. Weasley and Percy were working overtime at the Ministry, which was attempting to rebuild upon the few shreds of a proper government that remained, and both were very busy. At the moment, Mr. Weasley was not only running his usual department, but three others whose heads and higher-ups had died or fled the country. From time to time, members of the Order would come by for dinner as they once had regularly and the visits were bittersweet. They felt a bit odd and empty without Tonks' entertainment, Lupin's insight, and Mad-Eye's quirks, but these dinners were different now. They weren't formed as a way to discuss Voldemort's next move or the state of the corrupt Ministry. It was a pleasant gathering, full of friends, light, and laughter. To Ginny, it seemed that everything had fallen into place, the way that life was supposed to be now. As she was pondering these new changes to her life on the living room sofa, she was suddenly whacked on the shoulder with a heavy object.

"OW!" she yelled, swinging her head over her shoulder to face George who was sporting a smirk that threatened to take over his face. Ginny noticed a broom in his right hand, which she assumed he had used to smack her with. "What was that about you git!"

"Blimey, Gin, I think that the Lovegoods half a mile away didn't hear you." George retorted, grinning at his fuming sister. "We were wondering if you'd be up for a game of Quidditch." Suddenly, Ginny realized George was not alone. Angelina stood next to him holding her own broomstick and trying to stifle a giggle with her hand. Ginny wasn't surprised that the two had come to ask her together; they'd become inseparable over the last few weeks. Though they seemed to present themselves as "just friends", Ginny caught some sort of undertone underneath their interactions and wondered if there was something more there. She wasn't completely sure what it was, and she didn't think George and Angelina knew either.

Ginny stood up and tried to fix a look on her face that was her best impression of her mum whenever the twins had blown something up. Looking straight into George's eyes, she was satisfied when she saw that she made him a little uneasy. "Yeah, I'll play. And beat your sorry arse."

"Good," George said, his usual level of humor returning, "I relish the challenge." George and Angelina agreed to haul the equipment to the orchard if Ginny asked the others if they wanted to play. The redhead crossed the living room to the familiar staircase. She began her ascent up the rickety, twining steps, not bothering to watch her footing for she'd walked this path for so long, it was engraved in her memory. She continued to walk up the stairs, again lost in her reverie of how everything had changed over the past few weeks until she reached the landing with the door she had been accustomed to going into for sixteen years, on which a purple sign read GINEVRA'S ROOM. She opened the old door and saw Hermione sitting with her legs criss-crossed on the cot they'd set up for her. At the creak of the door, the girl's head snapped up from the book she was reading, her face a cream circle in a mess of brown curls.

"Hey, are you up for some Quidditch?" Ginny asked. Hermione bit her lip, undecided. She wasn't the best flyer, in fact it down right frightened her to fly, but it would be fun…

"Yeah." She said, nodding her head. "I'll play."

"Good!" Ginny exclaimed, taking Hermione's hand as her best friend uncrossed her legs and got up from the cot, throwing the tattered, well loved copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ back on top of the old, navy sheets. "Come on, we're to go ask Harry and Ron." The two girls discussed how they would split the teams as they clambered up the stairs to the very last landing. As they knocked on Ron's door, they could hear the Ghoul enjoying his favorite pastime of rattling, banging, and clanking the Burrow's pipes in the attic. Ginny smirked at Hermione, who returned her mischievous grin with a look of suspicious, before the younger girl turned to Ron's door. She lifted her hand and started to rapidly bang on the door very loudly.

"Oi! Ron!" Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!

"Bloody hell! What in the name of Merlin's pants is it?" Ron asked aggravated, his hair a shade darker than usual; still wet from his shower. He also was not completely dressed, lacking a shirt, which he was holding in his right hand, his left on the edge of the door.

"Ew." Ginny stated wrinkling her nose as she walked over to Harry by Ron's bed. "That's disgusting. Put a shirt on, I beg of you. No one needs that."

"I don't have a problem with it." Hermione stated simply. And with that she rose up onto her tiptoes and gave Ron a short peck.

"My eyes! My eyes!" Ginny whispered to Harry so that only he could hear. They both snickered, but then Harry glanced over at his two best friends whom were talking quietly to each other by the door and smiling.

"I reckon life is going to be a lot easier with those two together now." Harry said thoughtfully, turning back to Ginny.

"Yeah. Took them long enough." Ginny stated simply, a small smile on her face. Harry agreed. Though he'd only had his suspicions about the two since fourth year, he was glad that the constant bickering would stop- well, hopefully stop. He mentioned this to Ginny and they both laughed at the ludicrous idea of a world free of Ron and Hermione's squabbles.

Harry and Ron decided to join the makeshift Quidditch match as well, so the four teenagers walked to the secluded apple orchard near the Weasley's home. As they crossed through its' dense, natural boarder, they spotted George and Angelina at the base of a tree, engrossed in conversation. Hermione and Ginny exchanged a knowing glance; they both sensed that something had changed between the two "friends".

"Hey," Ron said, "how are we splitting the teams?"

_Ron! _Ginny thought. _Must you always interrupt people when they're in the middle of something romantic! _She and Hermione exchanged another understanding glance, Ginny huffing and Hermione rolling her eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, the teams were split and the Quaffle was airborne. Ginny snatched it and sent it to Angelina who soared halfway down the makeshift pitch only to have the ball intercepted by George. His 'Hole-y-ness' and Harry kept possession for a few minutes before Angelina stole the ball back. After a dodge past George, she whipped it to Ginny who sent the ball flying between a gap in the trees scoring on George and Harry's Keeper, Hermione. Harry quickly regained possession and threw the Quaffle to George, who shot, only to be blocked by Ron, the other Keeper. Ron passed the ball to Ginny who carried it up the field and shot on Hermione. Diving down, Hermione blocked the ball just in time.

Play continued for about an hour until it became so dark that continuing the game would prove to be impossible without someone sustaining a broken bone. As they shuffled into the Burrow's kitchen, they were greeted by the mouthwatering aroma of potatoes, steak, sausage, baked beans, and fresh bread. Ginny saw her mother dashing about the kitchen, cooking all of this and a stew. Ron looked like he was in heaven.

"Blimey, Mum, why so much food?" he asked, his eyes wide in appreciative wonder.

"Well," Mrs. Weasley responded as she checked the bread in the oven, "Your father and Percy will be off work in time tonight to actually join us and Kingsley and Professor McGonagall are coming for dinner."

"Mrs. Weasley," Angelina asked, "Do you happen to know the time?"

"Yes, dear, it's around six thirty." She responded while stirring the stew.

"Oh," Angelina said, shock flooding her face, "I have to get going! My parents were expected me home at quarter past. May I use the Floo to get home?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed leading her over to the large, brick fireplace, its mantle stacked two-deep in books.

"No!" George exclaimed, all eyes turning to him. "Why don't you Apparate - outside- it'll be faster. I'll come."

"Alright." Angelina said smiling. As the door quietly shut behind the two, Mrs. Weasley shot a coy grin at the four teenagers remaining in the room.

"Exactly what we thought!" Hermione said as she gestured to Ginny and herself, both girls beaming.

"Thought what?" Ron asked, completely confused.

"Honestly Ronald! Are you blind?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"No, Hermione, I'm not!" He said, crossing his arms. He paused, attempting to shun her with silence, but curiosity soon overpowered him. "Um," he cleared his throat, "what- what did you think?"

"George and Angelina," Mrs. Weasley said, nodding her head to the door as she laughed at the fact that even though Ron and Hermione were finally together, they still bickered.

_Just apart of their nature,_ she thought, amused.

"What about 'em?" Ron asked, still lost.

"Keyword, Ron, _and._" Ginny said as comprehension dawned on her brother.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed happily as Mrs. Weasley chided him from the stove.

"Ronald Bilius, there will be no cursing under this roof!"

"Did you know about this, mate?" Ron asked, bewildered as he turned to Harry.

"Well… no. How do you girls notice this stuff?" An equally bewildered Harry asked the three women.

"God's given gift." Mrs. Weasley stated. "It's probably due to the fact that we mature both emotionally and physically faster than men. In fact, most girls technically become women at about thirteen when they get their- "

"We'll be upstairs." Ron said, dashing up the stairs, Harry at his feet. "Call us for supper." Harry shouted from the a few floors above. Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley burst out into laughter.

"You know," Hermione whispered quietly to Ginny, "it makes you wonder if when growing up with the Dursleys, Harry ever got the birds and the bees talk…" Ginny eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and her eyebrows rose to her hairline. "Won't be a problem a couple of years from now, will it?"

"I heard that." Mrs. Weasley said, brandishing a ladle at the girls while she tried to repress a grin. Hermione and Ginny giggled as they rose to help Mrs. Weasley with dinner.

_********PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!********_


	8. The Announcement

_**NOTICE: I AM WRITING THIS STORY WITH 100% CANON INFORMATION. WHAT WILL HAPPEN LATER IN THE STORY WILL MATCH UP TO WHAT JK ROWLING TOLD US HAPPENS TO THE CHARACTERS, I PROMISE, BUT THIS IS A STORY, AND IDEAS NEED TO DEVELOP! BEAR WITH ME!**_

_**Disclaimer: I'm so ridiculously sick of these disclaimers. This is such a stupid thing to have to say. I do not own anything affiliated with Harry Potter. If I did and still had more ideas about the characters that I wanted to share (a.k.a. this story) I would be writing an actual novel.**_

_**I'm so sorry that I have not updated, my Internet has been down! Thank you to those few who review! I DESPERATLY want to become a better writer so please, please, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!**_

_Chapter Eight_

_The Announcement_

_The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn. _

_~David Russell_

Two vats of stew, one pot of baked beans, three loaves of bread, eight pounds of steak, four pounds of sausage, and twenty potatoes later the Weasleys, Hermione, Minerva McGonagall, and Kingsley Shacklebolt sat around the large kitchen table in its missed matched chairs. Their stomachs were stuffed and a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere filled the crowded room. Multiple conversations carried on at once; Kingsley, Mr. Weasley, and Percy were talking about a large break-out of magically enlarge Dugbogs that had broken out of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures that day and caused an uproar. Ron was faithfully defending his abysmal Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, against Ginny, an avid Holyhead Harpies fan. Mrs. Weasley yet again fused over how thin Harry looked as George explained the Transfiguration behind the Canary Creams to McGonagall and Hermione.

About an hour into all of the conversation, McGonagall cleared her throat.

"I have news for everyone here. News that I'm sure you four," she said, nodding to where Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sat, "will find very important." Hermione's head buzzed with possible announcements and questions. The most important being what would concern the four teenagers more than all the adults in the room? Then, right before McGonagall finished speaking, the answer dawned on Hermione. "Hogwarts will be open this September," McGonagall announced with pride, a small smile on her face, "and it will be admitting any students who did not have the opportunity to finish their education last year."

"That's lovely!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed excitedly as the adults and Percy began to question McGonagall on the current state of the school, who of the teaching staff would return, and other matters that Hermione, unusually, find inconsequential.

She'd never thought about returning to school after finding the Horcruxes, she was too focused on surviving until then. To be completely honest, she thought her chances of coming out of the war unscathed, or even alive, were slim. As a Muggle-born, a friend of blood-traitors, and, most importantly, a known friend of Harry Potter, Hermione's hopes had been bleak. She fought hard to survive and tried quite successfully to not let those thoughts enter her mind. She needed to be strong for Harry, who had such a burden, and Ron, who was easily affected by the journey. But life had continued and through her determination she had survived the war.

_But not completely unscathed_, Hermione thought as her hand wandered to the small small, slit-like scar on her neck. Her fingers grazed over the permanent reminder of the _lovely _hospitality she had received during her stay at Malfoy Manor…

"_No_, Mum," Hermione's head snapped up to see George and Mrs. Weasley arguing, "I'm not going back. I've been gone for two years and I have a business to run." He exclaimed and turned to McGonagall. "Don't get me wrong though Professor, it's great the school will be open. It'll mean a lot more Galleons flowing in from the many students." George said, smirking. Hermione couldn't help but to laugh with everyone else, and her disturbing dreams were once again wiped from her mind.

Late that night in the bedroom of the Burrow that was bursting with Chudley Cannons spirit, Harry and Ron both laid wide awake, a great deal on their minds.

_Returning to Hogwarts…_ Harry mused, his mind wandering thousands of miles away to the grounds and corridors of his large, stone home. But, was it still home?

A little over a month ago, it had been the farthest thing from that. It had been an oversized crypt, a funeral home. He'd seen the people that he could proudly call his family die there, inside the very corridors he had walked down thousands of times when he was younger, laughing with Ron and Hermione… He would walk past those places everyday if he went back. Could he laugh there again? Could he call Hogwarts his home?

_Yeah, it's still my home,_ Harry decided. It was different though… tainted in a way. Yet, it still was home. His childhood had been there, well, at least the pleasant parts of his childhood. It was definitely his home just as much as the Burrow was. Just… different. But was the change bearable?

_If I have to, I will,_ Harry thought decidedly, _but do I have to?_ Harry wondered a beat later. What else was there? As much as he'd love to live with the Weasleys like this forever, to freeze time at this moment of freedom and bliss, he knew he couldn't. That wasn't life. Life was a job, a house, a family… Harry's mind wandered to Ginny below him.

_Plenty of time for that later, _Harry thought with a sigh, pure happiness swelling in his chest. But if they had a family, they would need jobs, and would anyone employ him without his N.E.W.T.'s? There was only one profession Harry could ever see himself pursuing: Auror.

_You need your N.E.W.T.'s for that, _a pessimistic voice nagged at him from the depths of his mind. The happiness in Harry's chest popped like a balloon. The young man frowned as he remembered the oath he had just made to himself, to go back if he had to. Harry set his mind; he would have to return. To become an Auror, he would be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry starting this September.

Ron remained undecided. He knew without a doubt that Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were still awake, and he began to wonder what they were going to decide. He didn't want to decide this alone, he needed Hermione's reason with this one. He was waking everyone up.

"Harry?" Ron's low whisper might have been a shout through the velvety black, silent room.

"Yeah?" Harry responded turning towards his friend's bed across the room.

"You think the girls will come up and talk up all this Hogwarts business if I ask?"

Harry weighed the options. He _seriously_ doubted either of them were asleep, but if Ginny was and Ron woke her up, she'd bite his head off. Or at least send a Bat-Bogey Hex at him.

"They're probably awake, so let's go-"

"No need," Hermione whispered, she and Ginny both visible in their pajamas through the small sliver of light that came through the tiny bit of space between the door and its frame.

"How'd you know-" Ron started as Hermione shut the door, enveloping them once again in the blackness.

"You continue to forget your room is directly above mine." Ginny said.

Ron stood up and lit the candle next to his bed, allowing them all to see. Harry rose and joined Ginny who was sitting cross-legged at the side of Ron's bed. A small circle was forming at the foot of the bed, complete when Ron sat between Hermione and Ginny.

"So," he said after a few moments of nervous silence, "what's everyone doing?" Silence rang loudly through the small room, the only movement being the smiling Cannons players waving to the four teenagers from their posters in Ron's room.

"I-" Harry said, all heads snapping to him, "I think... I think I'm going."

"Why?" Ron asked, disbelief on his face. Ginny was also surprised; Hermione was the only one who remained unruffled.

"He wants to be an Auror." She stated simply, looking at Harry.

"Oh." Ron stated. The silence continued. "At least you know what you want to do, mate." Ron continued. "I haven't the slightest idea. I just know that… well, I don't think I could go back. It'd feel… wrong." He finished as Hermione took his hand and gave him a small, encouraging smile, which he returned.

"You're going back, aren't you?" he asked her, his smile falling the tiniest bit. There was a pause as Hermione bit her lip, looking into Ron's eyes.

"I don't know," she stated, exasperated. Everyone was surprise with this, they had all assumed upon hearing the news that Hermione, their studious friend, the brightest witch of their age, the girl who could successful perform spells before she even came to school, would return to Hogwarts. "I hadn't ever thought about it before tonight."

"Well what do you think now?" Ginny asked. The minutes stretched by as Hermione stared at the floor, deep in thought. No one dared to interrupt her.

"I'm going." Hermione stated to the wooden floor, her decision made, her mind set. "My education is too important to me. There's still so much more to learn. And I think I'll want my last memory there to be a happy one. Not," she paused, unable to conjure a word appropriate enough for the terror of the Final Battle, "the last memory I have now." She settled on, finally looking at her best friends.

"Well, can't say I didn't see it coming." Ron said, somewhat dejected, but not at all surprised. Hermione felt the guilt settle in the pit of her stomach as she looked at Ron. Her face must have betrayed her feelings, for he offered her a small smile.

"It's alright, though." He stated as relief blew through Hermione's mind. "I know you of all people will write." They all laughed at this, Hermione couldn't keep and quill and parchment out of her hands even if she tried.

"What about you, Gin?" Hermione asked, glancing at the youngest in the room. Ginny leaned her head back against the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Last year was," she hesitated, finding it hard to describe to those who had not been there, "hell. Pure hell." Harry would have taken her hand, but it did not look like she wanted to be touched. "I don't know that I could go there and not think about that or the Battle." She paused again, lifting her head off the side of the bed and looking around the room at her friends. "But I don't know what else there is for me. So I'm going." Harry's heart soared at this news. Ginny would be with him, he'd have Gin. And Hermione. But… No Ron. He looked to his best mate, sadness in his eyes. It had been awful when Ron had left him and Hermione. Wrong. And a whole year without him…

Ron returned Harry's glance, the same thoughts on his mind, but intensified. Not only would he not have his best mate, but he wouldn't have Hermione either. He wasn't exactly sure what she was, but girlfriend didn't seem like the correct term for what they had. They had waited for each other and survived too much for her to simply be his girlfriend. Hermione was… his love. He loved her. He knew that without a doubt. He also knew she wouldn't be with him for months. For a year. Ron's heart dropped into his stomach at the thought. Not only would Harry and Hermione be gone, he wouldn't even have his baby sister. As much as he wouldn't admit it, Gin had been own of his best friends ever since they were in diapers. They were only about a year apart in age. Bill had had Charlie, Percy had had his books, Fred and George had had each other, and Ron had had Ginny. Not having the three of them there would be beyond difficult; it would be painful.

"We'll have Hogsmeade weekends and holidays." Ginny said, trying to lift everyone up from the idea of a year without Ron, someone who meant so much to each of them in so many different ways.

"Yes." Hermione said flatly, still dejected. After a few moments, Harry broke the silence with a little chortle and all heads turned to him for the second time in the past half hour.

"Yes?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing it's just," Harry said, the suppressed laughter bursting out of him. "I can't believe your Mum tried to get George to go back again!" They all laughed and the mood immediately reversed. After a few minutes of trying to stifle their laughter to in order to not wake-up the rest of the house, Ron had an epiphany.

"That's what I'll do!" he said, a grin lighting up his face.

"Get Mum to convince George to go back?" Ginny asked as she eyed him.

"No," Ron said, waving off the suggestion, "I'll see if George will hire me at the shop and I'll work there. Well at least until I know what I _really_ want to do."

"Great idea mate," Harry said, "plus I think George may be needing some extra help there since…"

"Yeah." Ron finished for him, nodding his head. No one wanted to discuss Fred. They could talk and think about him, but it remained difficult.

"I just had an even better idea…" Harry mused.

"Hm?" Ginny questioned, too tired for full words.

"Well, with my Dad's cloak, and the Map… I think we can meet Ron _much_ more than once a month…" Harry deduced with a triumphant smirk.

"I like it." Ron stated.

"Yes, its excellent." Hermione stated, sprawled on the floor, her eyes shut. "Sleep is also excellent." Harry, Ron, and Ginny all chuckled at Hermione, despite her glares. The girls said good night and left the room as Harry and Ron both climbed back into their beds.

"Night." Ron said to Harry. He didn't know that his friend had not heard him, for as soon as Harry's head had hit the pillow, he was enveloped in the darkness of sleep.

_**********__**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**__**********_


	9. The Minister's Favor

_**Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything Harry Potter.**_

_**I'm so sorry that I haven't updated, my Internet has been down and this was my first chance to post new chapters. Please, please, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!**_

_Chapter Nine_

_The Minister's Favor_

_Choices are the hinges of destiny. _

_~Attributed to both Edwin Markham and Pythagoras_

Around noon, Kingsley Shacklebolt was quietly eating his lunch at his desk, awaiting the press conference Percy Weasley had arranged for himself and Minerva to use to announce the reopening of Hogwarts. Kingsley considered himself to be a brave man, but when it came to public speaking, his nerves got the better of him. Due to his nauseous and knotted stomach, he had only eaten a few bites of half of a sandwich. Just as Kingsley was about to give up on eating any more Arthur Weasley came into his office.

"Hullo, Arthur! What brings you here?"

"Just dropping off a report." He stated simply as his eyes wandered to the half of a sandwich that Kingsley could not bring himself to eat. "Are you going to eat that?" Arthur asked, pointing to the sandwich half that remained untouched. Kingsley shook his head and Arthur took the sandwich, devouring it in a few bites. "Sorry," Arthur stated, "I left my lunch at home and I've been much too busy to go back for it."

"Quite alright. Take a seat Arthur, you look like you need a break." The large man said, appraising Arthur's crooked glasses and rumpled hair.

"Thank you, Kingsley." Arthur stated, sighing as he sank into the chair.

"So, what did Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and Harry decide on about Hogwarts?"

"Well," Arthur stated, "Hermione is returning, unsurprisingly." They both laughed; neither of them had doubted that studious Hermione would return to her books and parchment. Little did they know she had thought long and hard about not returning to Hogwarts to complete her education. "Ginny is also finishing. But Ron," Arthur paused to straighten his glasses as Kingsley eyed him, "is not returning, much to Molly's disapproval. She hasn't been speaking to him for the past few days, but she'll come around. She understands why he doesn't want to return." Arthur paused again, lost in his own thoughts about what going back would mean to his youngest son.

"And Harry?" Kingsley asked, bringing his red-haired friend back to the present.

"He'll be returning."

"Without Ron?" Kingsley asked.

"Yes. He doesn't want to go back just as much as Ron, if not more than Ron, but he wants to become an Auror and he knows he'll need his N.E.W.T.'s for that. It's horrible that each day he'll have to walk past reminders of all that had happened, but he knows what he wants and he's not backing down."

"Yeah. Harry definitely does not lack determination." Kingsley stated. Harry was only seventeen years old and Kingsley admired the young man. He'd accomplished much more in his short life than Kingsley had through his forty-seven years.

"Merlin's beard! Is that the time?" Arthur questioned, frantically checking his watch that was adorned with at least twelve hands. "I'm sorry Kingsley, but I have to leave! I'm to be in a meeting in twelve minutes!"

"Goodbye, I'll be at dinner this Saturday!" He shouted as Arthur sprinted out the door. Kingsley stared at the bit of sandwich that remained on his desk, his mind wandering.

He felt horrible for Harry having to return to Hogwarts, the place where he had lost so many loved ones. But Kingsley had to give it to the kid; he certainly was determined.

Harry Potter had truly accomplished more in his short life than Kingsley himself, and he was more than double the young man's age! Harry had defied Voldemort, the greatest Dark Wizard to date, multiple times as a child, defeated that same wizard a few months ago, freed thousands of people, and gave a nation hope. Not to mention, the young man had lost some of people that meant the most to him along the way… All to defeat Voldemort… To give everyone the life they had now.

As stupid as it sounded to Kingsley, he felt the need to repay Harry. The kid would completely resent the idea of a "Harry Potter Day" or something along those lines and Kingsley laughed quietly at the idea of it; Harry would be utterly livid. A party wouldn't cut it… What could he do for a kid who had saved the lives of thousands of people?

Then Kingsley had an idea, a great idea, but he could not do it alone. He needed to contact Minerva McGonagall. Their press conference was still two hours away, but Kingsley needed to speak to her this instance. An owl would take far too long to reach her and he was not positive she was near a fireplace connected to the Floo Network to reach her through that. Therefore, he sent her a patronus.

Twenty minutes later, McGonagall sat in the chair previously occupied by Arthur Weasley and the Minister began his explanation.

"Arthur told me Harry will be returning to Hogwarts for his seventh year, despite not wanting to."

"If Potter does not wish to return, which is completely understandable, I fail to see why he should." McGonagall stated, her eyes confused behind her square-framed spectacles.

"He wants to become an Auror." Kingsley stated simply. McGonagall remembered the day over two years ago she had had her career advice counseling with Harry. Dolores Umbridge, the revolting pig, had questioned Harry's ability to become an Auror and McGonagall had made herself a promise which she had all but forgotten until now. "I believe that after saving the entire wizarding community, we should," Kingsley paused, not sure what word in his vocabulary best fit his plan, "bend the rules a bit for Harry. Help him become an Auror… faster." McGonagall nodded her head, the promise she'd made fresh in her mind.

"Perhaps the fact that he defeated Voldemort himself gives him enough of a reason to not have to go through with his final year." McGonagall suggested. "Heavens knows he has enough skill to become an Auror right now."

"He could," Kingsley agreed, a small smile on his stern face, "but I do not wish to single anyone out. I'm trying to reform the Ministry and eradicate it of the biased views it has developed over the years. And although Harry does have the skill and _deserves_ to become an Auror right now, I cannot have the Ministry create a law exclusive to one individual."

"Well, then what are we to do?" McGonagall asked, frustrated by the loophole in her plan, though she nevertheless respected Kingsley for pointing it out, even if it did annoy her. "You said yourself at dinner the other night that the Ministry is lacking Aurors because of the War. And I seriously doubt that anyone else in Potter's graduating class, with the possible exceptions of Miss Granger and Misters Longbottom and Weasley, will have even the remotest interest in the field."

Kingsley put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. This would be much more difficult than he had planned. He couldn't pass a law that singled any person out, yet he could not create a law that had such vague credentials that there would be about one hundred seventeen year-olds who possessed a sudden desire to become an Auror. He could picture the myriad of young adults outside of his old office right now.

"Would it be possible," McGonagall began, "to write a law that allowed someone who didn't finish their seventh year at Hogwarts to attempt to become an Auror without their N.E.W.T.'s, but make it mandatory for them to have another criteria? A certain criteria that does pertain to being an Auror? A heroic act, for example."

Kingsley opened his eyes. This idea had possibilities. It didn't single Harry out, and he wouldn't end up with a line of blundering buffoons stretching from the Atrium to the Auror Office tomorrow. "I suppose." Kingsley stated, sitting up in his chair again. "What is something that Harry and few others have taken part in?"

"Well, Potter has had his fair share of," she paused, trying not to smile, "adventures while at school. Many of which he performed while breaking the rules, so they could not be used as the criteria. I'm also fairly positive that if something specific to Potter's school years is brought up, people will realize that the law was being molded for him."

"Alright then," Kingsley responded, "we'll need something bigger… with more people involved."

"Potter has taken part in numerous battles." McGonagall pointed out.

"That's true." Kingsley said. The idea of involving a Battle had merit… but… "I don't think we could use a Battle as an example. There were never many people involved, and all who were there, with the exception of Harry and his friends, are adults with their own jobs. The public would realize something about the law was not right when so few people over the age to be looking for a profession were addressed in it." Silence stretched for minutes, both McGonagall and Kingsley in deep thought.

"There was a big Battle." McGonagall murmured. "Many fought in it, including people Harry's age and even younger. It was full of wizards and magical creatures alike."

"Are you suggesting…" Kingsley questioned McGonagall.

"Yes." She stated, her voice now strong and determined. "The other people his age who fought that day should also be given the opportunity. If they had the nerve to remain in the castle and the skills to survive, they also deserve to become an Auror. Not just Harry."

Kingsley nodded his head as he grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote an Inter-Departmental Memo addressed to Percy Weasley. Weasley would need to contact the Wizengamot for the law's approval and the Daily Prophet. Kingsley would be making two announcements today.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

It was dinner at the Burrow where a sweet aroma of shepard's pie, pork, and mashed potatoes swirled through the evening air. Just as Harry was reaching for his pumpkin juice, an incessant patter began to sound from the window.

Hermione crossed the room to admit the tawny barn owl into the kitchen. She took her the evening edition of the _Daily Prophet_ from its leg and placed five Knuts inside the pouch that hung there. "Oh look!" she exclaimed. The bird turned its lamp-like eyes to the window and took off as Hermione sat down and placed the Prophet in front of her. "Kingsley and McGonagall's press conference made the front page!"

"What's it say?" Ginny asked curiously.

"_Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, announced this afternoon that Hogwarts will be admitting students this September despite the damages the building had sustained during the Final Battle. Students who were unable to complete their education due to the war are also welcome to return. However…"_ Hermione voice became lower and lower until it was inaudible, her eyes rapidly scanning the paper and increasing in size by the second.

"Yes?" Ron asked, irritated.

"_However, any students of age who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts will be honored for their bravery by not needing to complete their seventh year of school if they choose to pursue a career as an Auror."_

Hermione looked up slowly from the page, her eyes and the eyes of everyone else in the room resting on Harry.

His stomach had just dropped a good 10 centimeters lower than its usual height. "What did you say?" He asked disbelievingly.

"However, any students of age who fought in the Final Battle will be honored for their bravery by not needing to complete their seventh year of school if they wish to pursue a career as an Auror." Hermione said, her face breaking out into a grin. Harry just sat there. He was pretty sure his mouth was hanging open a good bit, but it didn't matter. He was too shocked to close it.

Harry did not consider himself to be a lucky person. Granted, he had luck when he really needed it in his many close shaves with death, but in normal life, things did not usually work out too well for him. This… this was as lucky as it got. Harry had worked for years, _years_, to finish Voldemort off, to have a normal life. Now, something that people with a normal past had to work for just fell into his hands. That sounded like something that would happen to him, alright. He still could not believe that he didn't have to go back to Hogwarts; that he could begin training right this instance for what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. It was fate… so perfect… too perfect…

"When did Kingsley announce that?" Harry asked.

"Well, let's see." Hermione said, scanning the article, "The press conference was at two."

"Mr. Weasley? Didn't you just say you were talking to Kingsley over lunch today?" Harry questioned, his suspions mounting.

"Yes." Mr. Weasley said as he scooped more potatoes onto his fork. "I did. Poor fellow looked like he might keel over with nerves."

"What did you talk about?"

"Well, we didn't talk for long, and I can't really remember exactly what we did talk about actually… Oh yes! The decisions you lot made about Hogwarts, why you made your choices, that sort of stuff." Mr. Weasley completed the fork's journey to his mouth, but then stopped mid-chew. "Oh." He said, a small smile growing on his lips.

"What is it, Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Mr. Weasley glanced at Harry and they both came to a silent, unspoken agreement to never tell the reasoning behind the law. The redheaded man with the skewed glasses looked back at his wife and paused for a moment.

"Just realized something about… some paperwork at the Ministry." Dinner progressed to dessert and new topics were discussed, but Harry did not hear a single word. Tonight, all words other than Kingsley's announcement were superfluouse.

_**********PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**********_


	10. Author's Note: You Missed a Chapter!

_**Author's Note: You Missed A Chapter!**_

Hey guys! Thank you for all the support that I have received throughout this story and I'm sorry that my Internet is _still_ not working! (This is being posted from a friend's house.) I'm writing this note because I realized that when I posted the last two chapters at the same time, many of you only read the second one and did not see the first. I just wanted to remind you that there were two chapters that I posted and I should be posting the next chapter very soon, probably within the next few days. Throughout the time I have written this story, very few out of the many people who read it review much to my disappointment. Reviews are very nice to read and I would _really_ appreciate receiving more of them. If you do review, tell me some of your chapter ideas in your reviews I may decide to add them to the story. Thank you to those who have reviewed, but a special thanks to raybanlover and isolemnlyswearthatimup2nogood for their continued support and encouragement! Remember to see the other chapter and review!

- MioneJeanWeasley


	11. An Encounter

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter._

_Thank you to those who review, especially raybanlover and !_

_Chapter Ten_

_An Encounter_

_Life is simple, its just not easy._

_~Author Unknown_

It was a week before term began and the fact that Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would all be separated soon was taking a toll on them. They spent virtually all of their time together or as couples. Visits to Andromeda became frequent after Kingsley's announcement and the girls had decided that they wanted to say goodbye to her and little Teddy before they were whisked away on the Hogwarts Express. For an hour the young adults had talked to Dromeda in her comfy living room with two armchairs and a loveseat, the latter being occupied by Harry and Ginny. Dromeda held Teddy in the one armchair while Hermione sat in the other next to Ginny's side of the couch. Ron sat against Hermione's legs on the floor, helping himself to the assortment of candies inside the crystal bowl on the round, oak coffee table. The brownies on top of Hermione's lap were not enough to satisfy his constant craving for food. Teddy, today sporting red hair similar to the signature Weasley shade, had just fallen asleep in their hostess' arms. As they were discussing the courses Hermione and Ginny, both seventh years, would be taking this year, the doorbell rang.

"I wonder who that is?" Andromeda said as she handed Teddy to Ron, who looked panic-stricken. Ginny didn't blame him much; Ron was Teddy's favorite person to spit-up on. After the door opened, silence followed, and the four teens grew suspicious. Ginny, uneasy, was about to stand with her wand at the ready before they heard Andromeda. "Oh," she paused, the silence making the four teens more apprehensive, "Hello."

"May I come in?" A nervous woman replied, her voice striking a cord in Ginny's memory.

"Um, yes." Andromeda stated and footsteps could be heard coming through the hall. Suddenly, the door across from Ginny opened revealing Narcissa and Draco Malfoy.

Ginny could feel Harry stiffen next to her on the squashy couch, his face set in a grimace. Ron seemed to be holding little Teddy a bit tighter than necessary. Hermione was biting her lip, looking thoughtfully at the people in the doorway, her hand straying to a small mark on her neck.

"Why don't you and I talk in the kitchen." Dromeda suggested to her pampered sister. Narcissa nodded, her cold demeanor tainted by her nerves, and followed Dromeda through the door to the kitchen, shutting it behind herself. The soft sound of the kitchen door colliding with its frame pierced the still silence of the living room.

For a few moments Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny just stared at Malfoy, who had become very interested in his feet. As suddenly as the silence started, it ended.

"Do you want a brownie?" Hermione asked, gesturing to the plate on her lap.

Ron gaped at Hermione, shocked that she would offer such sweet brownies to Malfoy. What did they ever do to her? Harry furrowed his brows at Hermione while Ginny just bit her lip, waiting to hear the former school bully respond.

"Uh, yes. Thanks," he paused, his typical drawl absent and his face reddening, "Hermione."

Ron's jaw, if possible, dropped even lower. Harry's brows unfurrowed, only to proceed to his hairline. Ginny couldn't believe it. She had heard Malfoy, the pompous Pureblood poster boy, refer to Hermione as every insulting name in the book, but never, _ever_ had he actually respected her and called her by her name.

Looking highly uncomfortable, Malfoy sat down in the chair that his aunt had previously occupied as Hermione passed the platter of brownies to Ginny. She took them swiftly, her eyes never leaving Malfoy's red face. She tried to pass the brownies to Harry, but he too was staring at Malfoy. Ginny began to prod his arm with the edge of the plate, hoping to break him out of his thoughts, but she was unsuccessful.

"Harry," she began, "take the brownies."

"No." he responded. Ginny glared and Harry tried to resist to no avail, eventually cracking under the pressure. He grabbed the plate and handed it to Malfoy, withdrawing his hand as if he had been burned as Malfoy took.

More silence followed, and Malfoy looked around at the group. They stared back, returning his look of shame with a mix of disbelief and interest. Malfoy opened his mouth to speak just as the kitchen door opened.

"Well." Narcissa said to her sister. "Maybe we could have tea sometime then?" she asked, uncertain. Andromeda watched her with calculating eyes before responding.

"I'll check my calendar, Cissy."

Narcissa let a spasm of surprise flitter across her face at the use of her childhood nickname before smothering it with her standard arrogant mask. "Lovely." She said. "Come Draco."

Malfoy placed the platter on the oak coffee table, practically jumping out of his chair in his eagerness to leave, and followed his mother out the door of the living room. It was almost shut before he leaned his head back into the room, all eyes fixated on him. Malfoy opened his mouth again, about to say what he hadn't had the courage to voice earlier, but thought better of it and shut the door quietly. The patter of footsteps grew faint and was followed by the soft closing of the front door and the barely audible _pop_ of the Malfoy matriarch and her son Apparating away.

* * *

That night the Burrow was silent all except for the gentle chirping of crickets outside and the hushed murmurings of four teenagers in the lopsided house's highest room. Their nightly meetings had become an unspoken ritual for the four since the announcement of Hogwarts' reopening had been made. Tonight, Harry and Hermione sat on either side of Ginny in hopes to assist her in the abysmal game of wizard's chess she was playing against Ron. She and her brother were sprawled out on the floor between Harry and Ron's beds, engrossed in their tiny battle of wits and strategy. Despite Hermione's whispered suggestions of possible moves, Ginny was having her players taken from her in the blink of an eye. It had come to the point where her pieces distrusted her so greatly that she had to threaten them to get them to move their tiny stone bodies to their places. Ron was the complete opposite. The game was far too simple and his pieces trusted him entirely. He felt very secure. So secure, that he finally started the conversation of an issue so intriguing that it had been nagging at everyone's minds for hours.

"What do you make of Malfoy and Mumsie's visit to Dromeda today?"

"Well," Hermione began as she searched the board for a square that Ginny's final knight could proceed safely to, "Narcissa _seems_ to want to make amends with Dromeda. Try E, 5 Gin." She finished, breaking away from the board.

"_Seems?"_ Ron asked, his queen smashing Ginny's lone knight to smithereens as her remaining chess pieces let out sequels of terror and the Chudley Cannons players pictured in Ron's posters looked on with disdain. Ginny turned to Hermione, clearly displeased at the outcome of her suggestion.

"Well I'm sorry!" Hermione exclaimed. "I didn't see you with any other ideas."

"Yeah." Ginny stated. "You also didn't see Ron's queen." Hermione tried to be angry, but ended up laughing with the others.

"But seriously," Ron started, "what did you mean by seems?"

"I mean that it could all be publicity." Hermione stated, her friends looking at her slightly confused. "Tonks, an Auror, was," she paused again, closing her eyes for a moment, "killed by Bellatrix, Dromeda and Narcissa's sister. _The Prophet_ is currently running huge headlines about change after the Final Battle. I'd bet you anything that Narcissa thinks a story about she and Dromeda making amends despite the fact that Dromeda's daughter was killed by their own sister will make a spot on the front page. The fact that Dromeda was involved in the Order doesn't hurt either. In her mind, it will put the Malfoy name back in the good books, out of trouble, and on everyone's party guest list."

"Well time can only tell about that." Harry stated. "But why was Malfoy there? It's not like he cared about an aunt he never truly knew."

"Yes. I was wondering that, too." Hermione said, glad to have a mystery to solve again, "Right when Narcissa walked in, I knew why she was there, but why Malfoy had come was just so… odd."

"So you offered him brownies?" Ron asked, amused.

"Yeah. It makes sense." Ginny cut in. "Hermione offered him brownies to see if he was there to speak with us. If Malfoy took them, it was probably because he had to say something. If he declined the offer, then he was just at Dromeda's house at the same time we were by coincidence." Ginny looked back at the board again, trying futilely to save her chessmen from being smashed to pieces.

"So he took the brownies, the bait to talk," Harry put in, his attention now completely lost from the chess game, "But what was he going to say?"

"Whatever he came to tell us he was about to say before he left." Hermione stated.

"I reckon he was there by coincidence." Ron said. "He and Mummy were out shopping or something and he just came with her to Dromeda's. Besides, what would that git have to say to us?"

"Sorry?" Ginny questioned.

"I said, what would that git have to say to us?"

"I know that Ron." Ginny said to her brother from across the chessboard. "I'm saying that what if Malfoy came to say sorry. It frightens me how dim you can be." Ginny shook her head in mock disbelief as Ron watched her, faintly flushed.

"Do you honestly think _Malfoy_ would apologize?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh.

"Yes." Hermione broke in. "That's what I thought he was going to say after he took the brownies." The girls were nodding their heads in agreement as the boys looked on in doubt.

"Look," Ron began, "it's great you guys can see the best in people, but Malfoy has no best. There's no way he'd apologize."

"You really do have the emotional range of a teaspoon." Hermione whispered incredulously.

"What?"

"Nothing." Hermione said quickly. "But Malfoy may have had more reasons for wanting to apologize other than doing the right thing."

"And what would that be?" Harry asked, smirking. It was hilarious that these two _truly_ believed that _Malfoy_ would be good enough to apologize.

"The wizarding world in Britain is a tight knit community. And as much as he'd hate apologizing to his old enemies, it'd be better for him later in life. People will constantly associate him with his time as a Death Eater. If the community knew that he and Harry Potter, conqueror of Lord Voldemort, who Malfoy would be blamed for working with, had made amends people would accept him easier. It would mean less trouble." Hermione explained, putting her mess of curls into a plait. "And Narcissa probably either put him up to it or gave him the idea. That is, if she is trying to reconnect with Dromeda for publicity."

"I knew there would be something in it for him, wasn't positive what though." Ginny stated.

"There's way too many _ifs_ in this. I still say it was a coincidence." Ron said.

"Is that so?" His sister began. "Then why did he call Hermione by her name?"

"Because it was four against one if he called her something else. No Crabbe and Goyle there to back up his scrawny behind if it started something."

"No way. There had to be deeper logic than that juvenile answer."

Harry swooped in right before Ron was about to explode. "I'm with Ron that it was just a coincidence. And because we'll never know who was right and won the argument why don't we just drop it."

Hermione whispered something in Ginny's ear, who smirked, and spoke her command. "Bishop to F, 7." Ginny and Hermione's piece went straight to Ron's king, whose black crown fell to the white square below him on the board. "Checkmate."

_**Please review!**_


	12. The Tale of the Trio

_**Disclaimer: I didn't own Harry Potter before this long break, I don't own it now.**_

_**Sorry it has taken me forever to update this story! I had actually prepared chapters after this, but nothing seemed right until this was written. Again, my fervent and many apologies to you for the seemingly endless hiatus before this chapter. Enjoy! And PLEASE REVIEW!!!**_

_Chapter Eleven_

_The Tale of the Trio_

_It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live._

_~Albus Dumbledore_

On the eve of September 1, Mrs. Weasley threw a small going away party consisting of family, friends, the Grangers, and members of the Order in commemoration of Hermione and Ginny's last night before term. George suspected Mrs. Weasley was feeling so celebratory because she would have at least four of her children graduating Hogwarts now that Ginny had decided to return, ("George, that's ridiculous…" Mrs. Weasley said, blushing a fierce red while baking a treacle tart.) but she insisted that it was just a small going away present to the girls for their final year at school. A huge picnic table was stretched out in the Burrow's garden, with mountains of delicious food adorning its surface. Small lights hung in strings over the garden, criss-crossing from tree to tree and enveloping the Burrow in a soft glow. Crickets chirped as fireflies slowly flickered, periodically illuminating the yard as they weaved through the summer night.

From what Hermione could see, everyone could not have looked happier. Mr. Weasley was talking about Muggle lifestyle with her parents, whom had just met Ron properly. Hermione chuckled as she remembered the introductions.

She had taken Ron's hand and led him to her parents. Hermione figured that after only meeting briefly a few times, it was probably about time for Mum and Dad to meet the boy she had been hopelessly in love with for the past five years of her life. Well, more like introduce him in a new light. But as soon as she walked up to her parents, she didn't know exactly what to say. She and Ron had never exactly been an official couple. And boyfriend… well, that was a weird term for what he was, but probably the most suitable. Boy-I've-Loved-Completely-Since-The-Age-Of-Thirteen-And-That-Feeling-Will-Never-Change did not exactly roll off the tongue, so to speak.

"Mum, Dad, this is Ron, my-" Hermione stopped, freezing.

"Boyfriend." Ron said, as he looked down at Hermione.

_How very like us to formally get together in such an unorthodox style_, Hermione had thought, bemused. She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand, the poor bloke looked so nervous. But as soon as Hermione smiled up at him, giving him her silent answer of 'yes', he knew he'd be fine.

Shaking her head with a smile on her face, she looked over at her parents with Ron and Mr. Weasley. She and the others had been talking for the past hour and everyone was having a great time; Mr. and Mrs. Granger were amused at Mr. Weasley's fascination in the dentistry profession. Ron, completely lost, turned toward Hermione and whispered in her ear.

"I'm starting to wish I took Muggle Studies right now…" he said in her ear, slightly smiling.

"Well I told you to," Hermione said, smirking, "but don't worry, I'll just be your walking textbook."

"When are you not?" Ron said and the both began to laugh.

* * *

Harry looked towards the source of laughter. Ron and Hermione were sitting with her parents and Mr. Weasley, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. His two best friends had pulled their chairs quite close together, and were laughing as they whispered to each other. A little over a year ago, Harry would have felt extremely awkward seeing it, and he probably would be wondering if he even wanted to. They were his best friends, and the idea of them together had left him with a lot of questions. Would he be left out? Left behind? But a little over a year ago, Harry's life was at a very different place. Times had seriously changed and Harry couldn't have been happier for his friends. To be perfectly frank, he couldn't believe he had clueless for so long to the fact that they had cared about each other in a way other friendship. Smiling as he looked away from their laughter, he looked around the rest of the yard.

George and Angelina were talking over butterbeers, lost with each other and completely unaware to the rest of the party. Fleur and Bill were talking to Charlie and his date, a lovely Romanian Muggle named Alina. Maintaining the fact that they were wizards was not too hard, as soon as Alina had arrived, Ron had let slip the word 'Muggle' (earning him a slap on the back of the head from George) and she revealed that her sister was a Muggleborn, happily married to wizard and she had just had a bouncing baby witch. She and Fleur seemed to be getting along very well, both blonde and brunette heads were glued to their conversation. Mrs. Weasley was gushing to Kingsley, Hagrid, and a red-faced Percy about her, and pushing him to find a girl himself. Harry could hear them from where he stood.

"Honestly, after having _seven_ children you'd think I'd have grandchildren at my age!" Mrs. Weasley said, exasperated as she eyed her oldest sons.

"Mum, you're only forty-eight…" Percy rebutted.

"Yes, well…" Mrs. Weasley said, "I want more little children running around this house so you best get a move on Percy." Hagrid and Kingsley chuckled as Percy's face darkened to an even deeper red. "I wouldn't mind more weddings either." Mrs. Weasley stated, sighing.

"Well," Hagrid said, "I don't think you'll have to wait too much longer..." Hagrid stated as they all eyed Ron and Hermione, beaming and laughing. Suddenly, Harry felt eyes on him also, and he fled the scene. Not that he had a problem with the idea of marrying Ginny, he'd love to, but now seemed a bit early. Speaking of his "bride", where was Gin? He looked around the yard a few times until he finally found her, seated on the stoop of the Burrow's back door, right between the rusty old cauldron and the mangy rain boots.

Something was not quite right with the little redhead. Her usual grin of mischief was gone, replaced by a brooding frown. The cinnamon brown eyes that normally twinkled with mirth lacked their usual brilliance and were dull, sad… staring off into space, unfocused. Concerned, Harry dropped down next to her.

"Gin?" he asked. Immediately she snapped back to the present and looked Harry in the eyes, putting a smile on her face that would have fooled anyone but him. Ginny was a clever little actress, but she couldn't fool Harry. "What's wrong?"

Seeing it was a moot point, the smile dropped from Ginny's face like the crimson curtain of a stage. She sighed as she plopped her head on her hand. "You know, this party would be just for me if you, Ron, and Hermione were at Hogwarts last year." She said, waving her hand to the party. There was a long pause before she continued. "I'm leaving tomorrow, Harry."

"I know, we're all upset about it Gin, but-"

"That's not what I mean, Harry." She said, turning towards him with anger and a hint of betrayal in her eyes. "I'm leaving tomorrow and you _still_ haven't told me."

Harry did not need any more information than that. She wanted to know what he, Ron, and Hermione had done while they were not at school. Slightly taken aback, Harry opened his mouth, about to come up with an argument before-

"No," Ginny said, exasperated. "I've given you your time. I never pressed the matter, thinking you'd tell me when the moment was right. But I'm done being patient and playing nice. It's been almost four_ months_." The young man stared at his feet, ashamed. "Harry," she said, her voice gentle as she pulled his head up to look him in the eyes, "I cannot go off to school, away from you again, without knowing why you left me in the first place." Tears were forming in Ginny's eyes as she paused. "I need to know."

"Hey, you lot!" George yelled to them from where he and Angelina stood hand in hand at the table with the rest of the party. "We're cutting the cake, so move it!" Both Harry and Ginny couldn't help but let the smallest of smiles hit their faces as they walked together to the rest of the party.

* * *

Adorned in matching plaid pajamas, gifts from Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Hermione walked into Ron's orange bedroom. Ginny's were pale blue and her face was hard and determined, Hermione's full of dread. Everyone knew what was coming. Hermione and Ron (well in all honestly only Hermione, who told Ron, the boy was too oblivious for his own good) had inferred the problem between Harry and Ginny, and had been silently waiting in trepidation since the last piece of cake had been consumed at the party. And the moment the guests left, the four excused themselves, knowing what was coming. Now, at one in the morning, while the rest of the Burrow was peacefully asleep, a small battle of wits would occur between a red-haired warrior and her raven-haired opponent.

"Muffilato." Ginny muttered at the door before sitting down on the floor next to Ron's bed. Hermione had made her way over to Ron whom sat at the floor of Harry's bed, facing his sister. Harry sat on his cot, dreading this discussion. He would have to relive months worth of memories he wished could be erased from his mind entirely.

Silence stretched for a few solid minutes, Ron staring off into space, Hermione becoming very interesting in the hem of her periwinkle pajama bottoms, and Harry and Ginny locking eyes. Ginny stared at him, determined, her face set. Harry silently begged her to not make him do this.

"I'm sorry." Ginny said, genuinely, "but I have a _right,_" she paused, her forceful words ringing around the quiet room, "to know." Harry glared at his girlfriend and she returned the stare. It would take a lot to crack Harry. Ginny would have to give it her all to crack him. He would be tough. He would be resilient. He wouldn't crack.

He cracked.

"Fine." Harry said, sighing. "Where do you want to begin?"

"The wedding." Ginny responded with a tiny, triumphant smile playing at her lips.

"Well, we left when we heard Kingsley's Patronus, but you probably already figured that much." Harry said scratching his head while Ginny nodded her own. "We Apparated to Tottenham Court Road and-"

"Why there?" Ginny asked.

"It was just the first place I thought of." Hermione answered.

"Yeah." Ron said dryly. "Because that worked out so well for us later."

"What?" Ginny asked, concerned.

"We'll get there." Harry said, already sick of this. "Anyway. We went into a diner, and had a run in with a few Death Eaters-"

"Well you don't need to be so casual about it." Ginny drawled, shaking her head. "Honestly, you make it sound as if the 'run-in' with a 'few _Death Eaters_' is a stroll through Hogsmeade."

"No one got hurt." Harry said argued, somewhat confused at why she was concerned about it.

"Never mind." Ginny said, slightly bemused. "So what next."

"Apparently," Hermione continued. "the Death Eaters arrived because we had said the taboo." Talk like this continued for about a half an hour, and the Trio had to admit it: Ginny was a very good audience. She became nervous at the appropriate times, biting her lip in tension. By the time the Trio had reached the bit of their story about possibly breaking into the Ministry, Ginny had a question.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Ron asked.

"I'm kind of fuzzy on why you lot were planning a break-in on the very core of the enemy. Don't get me wrong, I admire it, but what is so important about a locket?" she asked. "Even if it was Salazar Slytherin's. Obviously it's key to bringing Voldemort down if you were willing to risk all of that, but… what makes that locket important?" Silence reined the room for a few moments. They had all forgotten that Ginny did not know what their adventure had revolved around. "That's why you needed to leave school in the first place, right? You needed the locket?" Ginny said. Ron had to admit it, his sister was sharp.

"Yeah." Harry said.

"But what makes it unique?" Ginny asked. The Trio paused for a few moments, however Hermione finally responded to her fiery friend.

"It was a Horcrux." She said rather bluntly.

"That's what I thought." Ginny said, nodding her head.

"What?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione all asked at once in shock and disbelief.

"How do you know what a Horcrux is?" Harry stated more than asked.

"Heard you three talking about them once during your last year. And I only know the term, I don't know what it is so if someone would care to enlighten me…"

"It's an object of Dark Magic." Hermione replied, not at all shocked at Ginny's eavesdropping abilities. She was her best friend and she knew what a clever witch Gin was. If she couldn't find something from snooping, no one could. "An object that someone places... a piece of his or her soul into…"

Ginevra Weasley was not a squeamish girl, but at this, she actually let a small gasp escape her lips. The room was silent for a few moments. Even Ron's Chudley Cannon's players were appalled at this news, their faces mirroring disgust from their posters.

"How?" Ginny finally asked.

"Murder." Ron said. "It tears the soul."

"And after it's torn-" Hermione said.

"It's placed in an object." Harry finished. "Which was-"

"Slytherin's locket." Ginny inferred. Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded their heads in response. The four friends were silent for awhile and the eldest three thought Ginny just needed a few moments to wrap her head around that revelation. In actuality, Ginny was piecing the rest of it together.

"You must have succeeded at the Ministry and gotten the locket," she said, "otherwise we would have heard about a second break in. But then why were you gone so long before ending the war? You definitely wouldn't have wasted time. So there was more than one Horcrux." Ginny stated.

The Trio stared at her, openmouthed. Finally, Hermione spoke.

"Yes." She said, nodding her head slowly. "He wanted to be as powerful as possible so he made seven."

"_Seven._" Ginny repeated in horror, she felt nauseous. "He split his soul _seven _times. He _murdered_ sevenpeople_…_"

"Blimey, Gin, did you put him above it?" Ron asked surprised at her flabbergasted reaction.

"No," she answered, "but that doesn't stop it from being disturbing, does it?" She received no answer, nor did she expect one. "Seven. The most powerful magical number…." Hermione nodded her head. "Makes sense in a really sick way… But, to the point. You got the locket out of the Ministry." She stated, wondering what came next in their adventure.

"I still can't believe we pulled that off right under their nose." Ron said in awe and pride, shaking his head.

"Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve." His sister responded, grinning. "But I actually already knew that it was you three who broke in before you told me."

"How?" Hermione asked in wonder.

"Well, the twins. We'd meet in the secret passages at the beginning of the year and exchange information, but that ended fairly fast. It became too risky, even by Weasley standards." She said with a smirk. "But Fred and George told me about the break-in, and that fact that 'Runcorn'," she said the name as she made air quotations and cocked an eyebrow at Harry, "warned Dad he was being watched was basically a dead giveaway it was you guys. Plus, who else would have the guts." She speculated. Harry couldn't believe how much Ginny had known on her own. Merlin, forget Extendable Ears ,George should just sell Ginny Weasleys, they'd be just as effective if not more!

"So what next?" Ginny asked. The tale took off from Hermione's slip with Yaxley ("That would be the other result of Hermione thinking of the first thing that came to mind…" Ron said) to Ron's splinching, and to the rounds of wearing the Horcrux.

"And then one night Ron and I…" Harry trailed off, not sure if he should continue.

"Harry and I got in a row." Ron finished, his voice strong, but he did not meet anyone's eyes. "I had been wearing the locket, and I was really irritable, being a huge git. I was yelling at him, telling him he didn't know what the hell he was doing. That he was doing a bad job. That this was hopeless… I was a real git. And then I said," he paused not wanting to continue. "I said I was leaving." Ginny mouth dropped in disbelief and confusion. She looked as if she had just been wounded.

"You left them?" she said in disgust, not believing the words that were coming out of her mouth.

"He left." Hermione said, looking and sounding distant. Her eyes were unfocused, and she seemed to not truly be with the three other people in the room anymore. Hermione had left them and was revisiting a cold, stormy night in the wilderness. "I called for him. And I called. And he didn't come. He didn't come back to me."

Harry didn't know what to do. Hermione had cried while Ron had been gone, but they had never really talked about it. The subject was avoided, almost as if it were a taboo itself. Even when Ron had returned, she had not been like this. She had been raging mad. Completely furious. But this was different. Her eyes were unfocused, remembering the night Ron had left them. Now it wasn't so much that Ron had left them, but that Ron had left her. She had a few tears streaming down her face from her injured, chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm so sorry, 'Mione." Ron said, sounding heartbroken. Hermione snapped back to the present and looked at him, but before she could respond-

"Sorry?" Ginny raved. "You _left_ them! Ron you _abandoned _them! They- they could have been found! And tortured!" Ginny voice increased with each word, but she seemed to miss Hermione's flinch at that suggestion of torture and Ron beginning to cry. "They could have died!"

"You think I don't know that?" Ron shouted, with an equal amount of fury. "You don't think that tormented me every _moment_ after I left them? That I didn't know what happened to them? Where they were? If _she _was even _alive_?" At that remark Ginny quieted, and surprisingly, Hermione came to Ron's rescue, placing her hand in his. Ron locked down at her, in despair. "I'm sorry I left. I'm so sorry. I should have been there and-"

"Yes, you should have been there." Hermione whispered, only having eyes for him as Ron did for her. The room was dead quiet other than Hermione's voice, a great contrast to the shouting match that had just occurred between the two Weasleys. Harry and Ginny felt like they should not be there, as if they were intruding upon something extremely private. In fact, it seemed to Harry that from Ron and Hermione's perspective, he and Ginny weren't even there at all. "I needed you." Hermione said, tears falling down her face. "But you came back." Hermione smiled, wiping the tears away from Ron's face. Ron couldn't help but to smile with her and he leaned into her hand.

"And after that… night." Harry said.

"When I left." Ron said, his words strong now, and Hermione nodded.

"After the night that Ron left, Hermione and I had decided to visit Godric's Hallow." The tale continued and Ginny looked disgusted when she heard about Nagini coming out of Bathilda Bagshot. After discussing that skirmish, Harry's broken wand, and Ron's return, they had reached the point of their tale about traveling to the Lovegood's.

"Wait!" Ginny said quickly. "I'm confused!"

"What about?" Harry asked. He honestly had no idea what there was to be confused about, I mean really. It seemed pretty clear why they were traveling to the Lovegood's home.

"Oh, I don't know," Ginny said, her speech dripping with sarcasm, "Maybe, just _maybe_, the fact that you three were that close to the Burrow and you didn't come. That _you_," she said, pointing at Harry, "were that close to _me_ and you didn't come…" Ginny said, looking highly offended.

"I wanted to, Ginny, I really did." Harry said, his voice very sincere and Ginny's face softened. "But I was 'Undesirable Number One' " he said, making air quotations around the term, "and you guys were being watched. Plus I knew if I went, I wouldn't be able to leave." Harry finished sheepishly, and Ginny couldn't help but have a small smile alight her face.

"Well if _that's_ why," Ginny said, and they all laughed, "then I guess we should continue on with the story." And that they did. Talk continued on through more of the night and Harry began to talk of a fateful evening of listening to _Potterwatch_.

"I was an idiot, and I broke the taboo. Snatchers, led by Greyback, got us. They already had a goblin called Griphook and Dean."

"Dean Thomas?" Ginny asked concerned.

"Yeah." Harry said, and although he knew it was childish, he still couldn't help but be a bit jealous of Ginny's old boyfriend. "Hermione hit me with a Stinging Hex so they didn't know it was me. We said I was Vernon Dudley, Ron was Stan Shunpike, and that Hermione was Penelope Clearwater. They bought most of our lie, but Hermione's picture was in the paper, saying that she was Muggleborn and traveling with me. So, Greyback wanted the credit of capturing Harry Potter and… um…" Harry wasn't exactly sure if he should say what else Greyback had wanted.

"He wanted to bite me." Hermione said, making Ron's jaw and fists clench.

"What?" Ginny said, appalled.

"It's ok though, nothing happened to me. Well…"

"Well what?" Ginny asked quickly, now concerned.

"Greyback took us to Malfoy Manor to have a Death Eater with a Dark Mark summon Voldemort, and Bellatrix was there." Hermione paused looking at Ginny's horror-struck face before continuing her story. Unbeknownst to Hermione, her hand glided up to a tiny, straight scar by her neck. "And she wanted information. So she choose to…" Hermione hesitated, unsure how best to phrase this, "interrogate me… with the Cruciatus Curse."

Surprisingly, it did not seem as if Hermione had a difficult time discussing the events of that night. She described a good deal of their battle from her perspective without difficulty, but the subject seemed to be taking a toll on Ron. For a good bit of the story, he sat with his head in his hands, not moving.

"Ron?" Hermione asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine." He said looking up to her and taking her hand. "Just wish I had gotten to you sooner, that's all."

"We talked about this before." Hermione said, looking him in the eyes. "I'm fine."

Ron looked into her eyes for one long moment before breaking away, and resting his head against the rails of the bed. He nodded slowly, and Harry continued the tale.

"While Hermione was upstairs, Ron, Griphook, Dean, and I were taken to the cellar. Luna and Ollivander were in there."

"Was she ok?" Ginny asked quickly, concerned for her friend who had disappeared.

"She seemed fine, but it was pitch black, and hard to tell. Anyway, I used a two-way mirror I had and asked for help. I found out the night of the Battle that Dumbledore had given his brother, Aberforth, the other half. So when I called for help, he sent Dobby whom Apparated us upstairs. Ron grabbed Hermione and left. Ollivander, Luna, Dean, and Griphook got out, too. But," Harry took a deep breath, not wanting to finish, "Bellatrix threw a knife at us, the same one she cut Hermione with. And as Dobby and I Apparated out, he-" Harry paused again.

"No." Ginny said, not wanting it to be true as tears were already beginning to form. "No, impossible. No." She didn't want to believe it. That the cute, merry little house-elf that everyone loved was dead? That he had died _months_ ago and she hadn't known. And yet, when the three other heads in the room began to nod, Ginny couldn't help but cry for the fallen warrior who died a free elf.

And so Ron continued the tale throughout their stay at Shell Cottage, Harry's talk with Ollivander, their deal with Griphook, and they had reached the point in the story of Remus Lupin's joyous visit, and his request to make Harry his son's godfather. Ginny couldn't help but to smirk and shake her head at that in amusement.

"Funny," she muttered to herself.

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"Do you know who his godmother is?" Ginny said, smiling.

"Who?" Ron asked curiously.

"Me." Ginny stated. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all grinning now, Ron and Harry in pleasant surprise, but Hermione in amusement at their faces. She had found out ages ago, during their first visit to Dromeda's house Gin had told her. "Tonks had asked if I would be Teddy's godmother while she was pregnant. No idea why they chose to entrust the duty with two teenagers, but I'm not complaining." All four of them laughed and the tale continued, chronicling their break-in at Gringotts.

"We all heard about that, too." Ginny said, smiling at her friends with pride. "They wanted to hush it all up, but of course Potterwatch broadcasted it. We all knew that it had to be you three, who else would be able to pull off the heist." She said, making Harry, Ron, and Hermione sheepishly smile. "And, of course, leave in style." She added as she remembered the dragon they had escaped on and everyone laughed.

The joyous aura of the room was soon squandered as Harry took the story from there, stretching through the first part of the Battle. The harsh memories caused more than a few silent tears, for to repeat it all again made it so real, and each of them was reliving that night again, as if they were there at that very moment. Their talk was opening old wounds that had just begun to heal, exposing them to the air, making them sting. But they had to continue the story. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were finding that they needed to talk about what happened just as much as Ginny did. Without their knowledge, feelings had been shut up tight inside them for months, but now with the discussion of their tale they were breaking free, and with that freedom, the three were beginning to finally heal the damage that had been carved out so many months ago.

All four cried when Fred died, recoiled at the murder of Severus Snape, and were enraptured by the description of his earlier memories about Harry's mother, and even the memory of Snape planting Gryffindor's sword, but then Harry had reached a point in his tale that he still had not even told Ron and Hermione. Snape's memory of learning Harry's fate.

"What?" Hermione asked, wondering why Harry had paused.

"Well, there… There was one more memory…" Harry said, not wanting to continue. The deed was done, but to tell the people he loved most what had happened… They would be heartbroken, even now after it had happened. Somehow, he had always known he could not survive. Would Ginny, Ron, and Hermione understand, too?

"Snape…" Every eye in the room was fixated on Harry now, enraptured with intrigue and curiosity. But suddenly, the tension that Harry had felt for this moment was lifted off his shoulders, because he knew that they would understand. All of them had supported him for years, their bonds ran too deep to not know inside themselves that what Harry had done would have always had to have come. And with that knowledge, Harry began to describe his own death. "Snape became angry with Dumbledore for not telling him something. Dumbledore was… holding a piece of information from Snape- from everyone." At this Hermione straightened up in her seated position, her eyes dancing with the possibility of learning more information. Harry was fondly reminded of his friend during their time at school, her hand never failing to spurt up as fast as a Snitch to answer a question and always on the edge of her seat, eager to acquire more knowledge. Although at present, Harry began to wonder if his friend truly wanted to learn this new information. As quickly as the thought entered his it vanished, his mind void of all traces of its' presence. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny wanting to learn this information was not of importance. Wants and likes were inconsequential right now. This was a matter of needs. The three people he loved the most needed to know what had happened to him; they deserved to learn of Harry's fate just as much as Harry had. They had walked beside him, supported him, and fought with him since he was only eleven years old. And although he did not know it, Harry needed to tell them just as much as they needed to know the truth. "Voldemort had split his soul seven different times… and he had seven pieces of his soul outside of his body."

"Harry," Hermione quickly interrupted, "he had six outside the body. The locket, the cup, the diary, the ring, the diadem, and Nagini. He had a total of seven pieces of his soul, not seven outside the body." Harry tried to say something but she quickly spoke again. "Not to correct you, it's just that it's late and we're tired so we're bound to make some mistakes."

"Well, no, Hermione, I didn't make a mistake." At this Hermione furrowed her brow, confused, as Ginny and Ron glanced back and forth between Harry and Hermione, bewildered that he had just contradicted the living encyclopedia. "That was the piece of information Dumbledore was keeping from everyone, even myself. Voldemort had seven Horcruxes not including his own body." Reaction was instantaneous, albeit subtle. Ron's eyes widen to dinner plates while his sister's jaw dropped. Hermione just furrowed her eyebrows deeper, blatant shock now mixing with the heavy confusion on her face.

"Impossible," she began, stuttering slightly, "how did Voldemort die if there was one more Horcrux to be eliminated? We would have had to have found it. Furthermore, if Dumbledore knew of another Horcrux he would have destroyed it immediately unless he did not have the means or… he did not know what it was?" Hermione asked questionably. "Theoretically, if there was another Horcrux, Dumbledore would have left us a clue about it. I received _Beedle the Bard_ to learn of the Hallows, Ron was given the Dilluminator to return, and you got the Snitch engraved-" and then Hermione slowly trialed off, her eyebrows unfurrowing, the confusion lifting from her face to be replaced with shell shock as she looked into Harry's eyes. "the close… I open at the close…"

Harry's throat closed up and he could feel pressure building in his eyes. Stomach dropping like a block of lead, he was about to begin the story before-

"That's where you were. That's why you looked… when… Why did you go… How could you… No…" Hermione trailed off.

"I was the final Horcrux. That's what Dumbledore kept from us." Silence filled the room. A pin could drop. Ron had a mixture of disgust and confusion on his face whilst Ginny just looked at Harry with her mouth slightly open, her eyes searching Harry's emerald ones for the answers that she craved.

"Impossible…" Hermione whispered, tears rolling down her face. Only she realized the significance of what Harry had just said. "He's d- dead. He's _finished_. You can't have been a… We would have had to have… You would have had to have… _died_." Hermione whispered with barely a breath. The word, so quiet, resonated and reverberated off the walls of the small room, piercing their ears, it's significance ringing like an echo. "I open at the close." She said, slightly louder, the tears now flowing free and fast down her face. "You died." She said with finality.

"What?" Ginny asked, bewildered.

"'Mione, that's impossible, he's right here." Ron said, severely questioning the bushy-haired girl's sanity.

"No, Ron. It all fits." Hermione stated. "It explains Harry's connection to Voldemort. Sensing his feelings. Speaking Parseltongue. Seeing his thoughts. It all fits perfectly together… like a puzzle… 'I open with the close'… It opened when you left, didn't it?"

"Left where?" Ginny asked, suspicious.

"During the intermission of the Battle, I left." Harry continued, the room as silent as ever. "I went to Voldemort, because I had seen Snape's memories and I knew the only way to end it was to die. I took the cloak and left the castle and the grounds-"

"I _knew_ it." Ginny said, her face ablaze with indignation as the tears welled up and cascaded onto her cheeks. "I knew you were there- out on the grounds with me. I could _feel _that you were there, but I shook it off, I told myself I was being ridiculous... Then you walked right past me into the forest. Right past me to him…" The tears were falling fast and hard, matting into the fiery red strands of hair that framed her face. "I could have kept you away, saved you… You could have stayed…"

"I wanted to." Harry said fervently. "I wanted to so very, _very_ badly. But I couldn't. That was the only way, the only way to go. It was either be selfish and be with you while we watched everyone we loved die, or me die for everyone I loved. That second of hesitation, promise of staying with you, right there, forever… passing it up and walking away was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." Harry blinked away the tears, and his glasses were becoming foggy. Suddenly, Ginny slid in front of him. She smeared her tears away with her fingers and reached for Harry's glasses, pulling them off and wiping his eyes.

For a long moment, Ginny kept her free hand on Harry's cheek while she looked deeply into his tear-filled eyes and it seemed almost as if she were counting the tints and shades of green inside them. Taking a deep breath Ginny slid Harry's glasses back onto his nose until they rested even on his bridge. "Do you remember what I said to you at Dumbledore's funeral? When you said you had to leave?"

"Not well… It feels like so long ago…" Harry trailed off, trying to remember.

"I told you that I wasn't too surprised that you were leaving, not really. Because I knew that you wouldn't be satisfied until he was finished. And I also knew that that was one of the reasons I fell for you." Ginny paused as fresh tears began to fall. "But know I know I would have given anything to stop you from finding him."

Tears fell from Harry and Ginny's eyes, falling fast and hard, leaving watery streaks down their faces. Harry pulled Ginny in beside him and they hung onto each other as if nothing could ever pull them apart, because now nothing ever would.

"We're not leaving each other again, Gin." Harry said. "Not ever."

"You better be damn-well sure of that, Potter." Ginny said into his shirt and both of them could muster a small smile.

"I am." Harry said, pulling Ginny away from him and down at her. Her beautiful red locks framed a pale, freckled heart shaped face with cupids bow lips and large, long-lashed light brown eyes. She was so small compared to him, almost fragile. Yet she seemed to have so much more strength and life in her than Harry, and in that moment Harry knew that he needed her. More than anything in this world he needed Ginny. She could keep him and his temper in check at times when everyone else around Harry just backed down. She encouraged and pushed him forward when nothing else seemed to matter. She was able to give him a laugh when he craved it the most. She didn't shy away from his past, and she wasn't scared of him because of it. She accepted him for who he was, and the troubles that came with him. While Harry had known it for so long, years maybe, he consciously realized in that moment that he was in love. He was in love with her, and that feeling would never change no matter what life threw at him. "I love you Ginny." Harry said quietly to her, but the words bounced off the walls of the small room. "And I'm not going anywhere."

Ginny's cinnamon brown eyes widened slightly at what Harry had just said, and suddenly, he felt a bit self-conscious. "Well, I mean… I, you know, care about you a lot but… You know, that's just me… You don't have to feel the same way if you don't want to- or if you just don't-"

"Harry James Potter," Ginny interrupted. "Of course I love you, you complete git!" She said with a small laugh and a smile before kissing Harry full on the mouth. After they broke apart, Harry felt like he had been beaten over the head in intervals with a combination of a beaters bat, the Whomping Willow, and roughly a thousand Bludgers. Ginny loved him… She loved him… They were in love…

Slightly bashfully, Ron cleared his throat and Harry and Ginny looked over to find to him. Ron and Hermione were facing them and smiling at them both, Hermione on Ron's lap with his arms encircled around her, her hands holding his own in front of her.

"I think we have a story to finish." Ron said, grinning at his sister and best mate.

"Right." Harry said, nodding his head as he smiled down at Ginny who returned his with her own bright grin. He continued the tale, chronicling his journey into the forest. Tears fell from his three friends, but strangely, none fell from Harry's eyes. That was in the past, and he had made it through it.

_But this_, Harry thought as he looked to his greatest and oldest friends Ron and Hermione, smelled Ginny's familiar flowery scent that was uniquely her, and felt her soft, warm hand in his own and the sturdy yet comfortable feel of the Burrow floor… _This is my future… Everything I could want… We all got what we wanted._ He finished, looking to his and Ginny's intertwined hands and Ron brush away Hermione's tears. She glanced back at Ron gratefully before giving him a brief kiss. Still not used to having Hermione, he turned slightly red and she couldn't help but to smirk. And at seeing all this happiness, even in the light of tragedy, Harry felt at peace… He felt happier than he had in years… And he felt at home.

Talk continued to the final moment between Harry and Voldemort, but then Harry's voice trailed off because talk had become superfluous. They all knew what had happened next, but that was a great deal less important than what they had all just learned. That what happened in the past was behind them, and at this point it didn't matter. What was important was what they made of their future, the time that they had together.

Hand-in-hand and smiling to each other in mutual understand, the four friends slowly drifted off to sleep together… In peace, under the stars, and in the old bedroom that held so many memories of their childhood…

_*****PLEASE REVIEW, I WANT TO BE A BETTER WRITER, PLEASE REVIEW*****_


	13. Return to the Platform

**Disclaimer: Even though it's been a long time... I still don't own Harry Potter.**

Chapter Twelve

Return to the Platform

The art of love... is largely the art of persistence.

~Albert Ellis

For the first time Harry could ever remember, he was not late on a journey to King's Cross. That being said the process had become a lot smoother now that everyone could legally Apparate. Also the small amount in their party didn't hurt; only he, Ron, Hermione and Ginny crossed the threshold of the train station this morning. Half the Weasley family was working busily today and the other half sensed that the four had wanted their space. Along with being late, Harry had never experienced dread during the journey to King's Cross Station.

It was around 10:40 and their group was heading for the trolleys. Instinctively, Ron reached out for one, but then took his hand away looking rather glum. He wasn't the only one in that mood. Today was the day. Hermione and Ginny were going to Hogwarts, and Harry and Ron were staying right here.

Not going with.

Being separated.

For months.

Harry and Ron loaded up the girls' trolleys as each made sure their pets were securely locked inside their cages (Crookshanks had been eyeing Arnold the Pygmy Puff in a way that left no one comfortable with idea of giving him a chance to stretch his legs). Once the hefty luggage had been loaded into the carts, Ginny let out a sigh.

"I can't believe we're doing this!" She finally let out.

"I know." Ron said as his shoulders slumped.

"It's what will be best for each of us in the end though." Hermione said, trying to convince the others, but her face showed that she couldn't even convince herself. A sad silence fell over the group, each of them pondering the months they would spend split.

"Well," Ron said, someone finally speaking, "I'll go first." He began to fight his way through the bustling throng of briefcase-toting Muggles who were chatting, reading the paper, running to catch trains, or yelling into cell phones. Ron casually leaned against the barrier and in the blink of an eye he was gone; magically transported to the other side where the Hogwarts Express waited patiently for their arrival. Ginny went next, wheeling her trolley swiftly through the wall.

Harry looked down at Hermione. He had never realized how different in height they had grown to be. He had to be about a head and a half taller than her now, which was very strange. For once, she felt like his little sister, not the bossy big sister with all the answers.

"What?" she asked, amused. Harry realized that through all his pondering he was probably looking at her a little distantly.

"Nothing. Just can't believe you're leaving, that's all."

"Yes, Harry." She chuckled. "I'm a big girl now. All grown up."

"Yeah. We're all grown up... Can you believe that?"

"No… I can't." Hermione said, looking a bit sad. She hadn't realized it until Harry had seriously said it. They truly were all grown up. She and Ginny would be taking their N.E.W.T.'s this year. The all-important exams that the massive, menacing seventh years took… And Harry and Ron were applying for jobs. Jobs! Those two in the workplace? She didn't even know how they would get through any of their work without her… Or how they could possibly stay out of trouble without her… No common sense. Honestly, she was Petrified for such a small amount of time, and what do they do? While she's laying stone-still in the hospital wing, unable to give guidance to Harry and Ron, they go gallivanting off into the forest and get attacked by a legion of colossal spiders…

"Promise me you'll be safe?" she asked suddenly, looking up at him seriously.

"I promise I will stay as safe as Auror training will allow." They both laughed. "Now promise you will stay safe?" Harry asked her.

"It's Hogwarts, what could happen?" There was a pause where the two remembered all of the close shaves with death they had had while at school. "Fine, I'll be as safe as Hogwarts will allow." Harry and Hermione both chuckled nostalgically again before he pulled her into a tight, loving hug.

"I'm going to miss you, Hermione."

"I'll miss you too, Harry." She said against his chest.

"I know." Harry said, making them laugh as they released each other. Hermione put her hands on the handle of her trolley, looking at the barrier uncertainly. "So, you ready?" Harry asked. Hermione took a deep breath and smiled as she nodded her head, striding through the barrier with Harry at her heels.

0000000000000000000000000

Ginny looked around the platform. The Hogwarts Express sat patiently on its tracks, purring steam as it waited for its passengers to clamber aboard. Students bustled through the mist from the scarlet steam engine, searching for friends and family, while trunks were loaded onto the train and parents gave their last minute reminders. Owls hooted over the chatter of children and the occasional cat hiss was heard. It hadn't been too much time that Ginny had been on Platform 9 and 3/4, but she would have expected Harry or Hermione to come through by now. She looked at the place in the wall that people entered from, slightly concerned.

"Don't worry," Ron said, causing Ginny to turn around, "I'm sure everything's fine. They just want to say goodbye to each other. Wait your turn, Gin." he joked, grinning with his arms crossed as he leaned casually against a brick pillar across from the barrier.

"Speaking of saying goodbye." Ginny said, running up to Ron and crushing her brother in a hug around his waist. "I'll miss you." She muttered into his blue jumper.

"I'll miss you too, Ginny." Ron said, surprise catching in his voice as he returned her hug.

"It won't really be Hogwarts without you." Ginny replied to the jumper. Ron was taken off guard again, and was touched by his what Ginny said. He never knew being around as the annoyingly over-protective big brother meant more to Ginny than the nuisance she showed it to be. "As much as I'd hate to admit it, I love having my big brother there."

"Thanks, Gin." Ron said gruffly. Ginny looked up, and could have sworn she saw him blink away a tear or two. Ron was taken back years ago; it felt like they were little kids again at the Burrow and he was the shining big brother who could do no wrong, like when they had been each other's closest friend. And Ron realized that he was wrong. It wasn't that Ginny was no longer one of his closest friends, he'd just found others too.

Before Ron could say anything else to his sister, Hermione came through the barrier, followed moments later by Harry. The youngest Weasley siblings broke apart, and the four loaded the girl's trunks aboard the train.

"Well," Harry said, turning to the others, "the train leaves in eight minutes so we should probably say goodbye to… each other."

"Yeah." Ginny said, taking his hand and leading him to the other side of the pillar Ron had previously been leaning on. A second later she and Harry disappeared through the mist that enveloped the Platform and the long, scarlet steam engine.

For a long moment Ron just stared at Hermione memorizing each and every curve and shadow on her face, the multitude of shades that made up her curly, wild hair, and the exact length of her long eyelashes. Finally, Ron found himself locked in her deep, chocolate-brown eyes, captivated by their many facets of color as the light reflected off their surface. He seriously doubted that he could ever forget anything about Hermione- he never had- but this was the last time for months that he would be able to see her in the flesh right in front of him, and he was not about to waste it.

Hermione looked long and hard at the tall boy she loved with all her heart, marveling at how much they had both changed. Over the years, Ron had lost his gangly physique and exchanged it for a more wiry one. When had that happened? Time had just flown by… He had learned to be more mature, especially over the past year. But thankfully Hermione's favorite features of Ron's had not faded no matter what they had been through. His boyish grin and the playful gleam in Ron's eyes were still there, and Hermione prayed that they would never leave. But he was leaving her again, just as he had before. Although she knew he would be perfectly safe now, she still could feel the nerves pulling her stomach into knots. Reaching up, she ran her slender hands through Ron's hair. As it wandered back towards his face, he caught her hand in his, holding it against his cheek.

They both knew it would be superfluous to say how much they missed each other. That was obvious. But Ron felt he could not leave without saying-

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"For being a git. For waiting so long for, you know… this." He said, gesturing to the both of them, "I wish I hadn't waited, we could have had so much more time..." He said into her palm.

"Ron, that's not your fault." Hermione said confidently and he finally met her eyes. "I was just as bad as you were. We were complete prats to each other, half the time ignoring how we felt and the other have of the time arguing. You weren't the only one who was being a git." She said, giving him a smile that he returned. "And besides, I think this is how it was supposed to happen… We both needed to grow up a bit before we could really be together. If we hadn't… I think we would've ripped each other's heads off…" She said, laughing and Ron had to join in.

"Still," Ron said, "I wish we hadn't lost all that time together."

"I don't regret a minute of it." Hermione said much to Ron's surprise. "It got us to where we are now." Ron couldn't help but recognize the truth in that statement. Hermione was right, as big of prats as they were to each other, they had always cared about each other through thick and thin. Even after they had fought and bickered for days, weeks, and sometimes months. No matter what, they had still been there for each other when it mattered most. Honestly, the fighting showed each other that they cared. "And you know," Hermione continued with a smirk, "even if we did miss out on... snogging in the corridors," she said with a smirk, making Ron and herself chuckle quietly, "borrow that cloak of Harry's, come out through a secret passage, and maybe we'll still get that too." She finished with a smirk, and Ron laughed even louder now.

"Well that's not exactly Prefect behavior, is it?" Ron asked Hermione, grinning.

"Haven't you heard? I'm a returning seventh year! I'm no longer a prefect. I'm exempt from setting such a high expectation. And I will finally break the rules." Hermione joked, and Ron gave her a questioning look as they both remember the hundreds of times they broke the rules at school. "Well... breaking rules that don't apply to saving the Wizarding World." They both laughed again, and Ron gave her a kiss. Hermione looked into his eyes, and knew that she had to say it. "I've been waiting a long time to tell you- years probably, that-"

"Hermione!" Ginny yelled from the train window. Neither Ron nor Hermione had noticed that while they had been talking, all of the students on Platform 9¾ had filed onto the train. The last whistled sounded, and the scarlet steam engine began to move.

Hermione ran, Ron at her heels, to the train door. She hopped on board the moving train, stumbling slightly as she grabbed the railing. Her heart rate slowed as she took a deep breath. Then turned behind herself ready to laugh with Ron at her foolishness. But he wasn't behind her.

No. Ron was a long ways behind her, still on the platform as the train moved onward. No. No, he couldn't be that far behind! She had to tell him before he was gone! And yet the train was speeding away, leaving Ron behind.

"Wait, Ron! Wait!" Hearing her voice, he sprinted after the steam engine, but soon it would too late. The head of the engine was turning the bend.

Whipping away from the door Hermione sprinted down the corridor of the train pushing outraged students aside without concern in her fervent dash to the train's back door.

Where could she have gone? What was she going to say to say to him? Hermione had whipped back into the train but Ron was still running after it, his feet thundering rapidly against the powerful roar of the engine's wheels, disbelief in his mind and adrenaline coursing rapidly through his veins. Where was Hermi-

"Ron!" A beautiful brown-haired girl called from the train's back door. Hermione had ran to the back of the train.

Pushing himself faster than ever before he closed the space between them. Twenty yards to her. Fifteen yards.

"I couldn't leave without saying it!" Hermione yelled passionately. Ten yards. The wind against the quickening train whipped her curls around her face in an untamable swirl. Five yards. "Ronald!" Two yards. "I love you!" Ron had reached her and grabbed her hand as she said the words they had each been waiting to hear for seven years. It felt like an eternity that he held her hand in his own, and yet it was all too short for Ron and Hermione. A split-second together and her hand slipped away from his own, speeding away too fast for Ron to now catch up. Tears in her eyes, Hermione gave him a nostalgic smile right before she slipped away from him, around the bend and out of sight.

"I love you too." Ron whispered through heavy breaths, his heart racing as the blood pulsed behind his temples. Not from the run, but from the words he had waited to hear for so long.

His words were whispered, but somehow Hermione had heard them over the roaring chug of the Hogwarts Express along its' track. Nothing in the world held more significance than those four simple words. They resonated in her brain as her heart leapt and she felt blood begin to pound beneath her temples. She wasn't entirely sure how long she stood at the back door of the train. Minutes, maybe an hour, but as she walked to her compartment she was still in a foggy daze.

With a small, wistful smile on her face Hermione sat down in her compartment, barely noticing that Luna had joined them with a copy of the Quibbler. Hermione failed to notice Ginny giving her a small, yet satisfactory smirk, and mutter, "Well it's about bloody time…".

**To my long-lost readers, **

**I'm sorry to tell you that over the past two years, my mind has wandered from writing. I found this on my computer, a chapter I never finished that I should have put up. Right now I have a concussion, so finishing it was hard. But I'm also hoping that it will reinvigorate me to write this story again- something I missed greatly without even realizing it. For those fans I have who possibly saw this story on their updates and may be reading this now, my deepest apologies for taking two years to update this and essentially falling off the face of the earth; I'm so sorry. I can't promise that I'll be writing this again, what with my head now and my busy schedule. But hopefully, I will. Again, my deepest, largest apologies everyone! If you are an old fan reading this... thank you for checking out another chapter. I really hope to write more. If you're new... I hope you've found something you like.**

**From Your Long-Lost and Fervently Apologetic Author,**

**MioneJeanWeasley**

**P.S. Nostalgically… I'm finding myself asking the same request again… Please review- despite the long time it took for me to put this up, again, I'm so sorry.**


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